La loro vita nuova insieme
by horseaholic
Summary: Title means 'Their new life together' in Italian. Sequel to Il suo amore. This is the continuation of Tony and Emmy's relationship and life together. Tony angst/h/c, family. MAJOR CHARACTER DEATH! AU. Chapter 10 is up! Complete, but can be continued.
1. Honeymoon

_Hey, guys. In all honesty, I don't know what to say. Except here I present the sequel to 'Il suo amore', 'La lore vita nuova insieme'. Translates to 'Their new life together' in rough English, according to Google translator and reverso translator (thanks, Tiff, for Rule #3'ing- double-checking- for me!) If you haven't previously read 'Il suo amore', I suggest you do so, or you may be confused as to how we got where we are. Well, here we go. Enjoy!  
_

**Chapter 1— Honeymoon**

* * *

"Tony, what are you doing?" Emmy asked, as Tony picked her up when they walked into their new house, after the wedding reception.

"Well, I have to carry my new bride over the threshold, don't I?" Tony asked, smiling.

Emmy smiled. "Yes, I suppose you do," she said, laughing, as he carried her into the house and into their bedroom. "I still can't believe Abby attached shoes to our car."

"I can," Tony said. "I wasn't surprised in the least."

Emmy laughed, but her laugh was interrupted when he kissed her.

"So, Mrs. DiNozzo," Tony said after, "are you happy?"

"Of course," Emmy said. "I love you, Tony."

"I love you, too," Tony said, kissing her again.

They playfully took off each others' clothes and lay down on the bed together. Emmy leaned up and kissed Tony tenderly. Tony leaned down and crashed his lips against hers, deepening the kiss. Emmy wrapped her arms around her neck, running her fingers through his now-unkempt hair. They kissed until they could barely breathe, and suddenly, Emmy wished she didn't need oxygen to survive. Tony's kisses were warm, light, moist, tender, and had a moment of hesitancy that left her craving more each time.

One thing led to another, and soon, Tony was down to only his boxers, and Emmy her panties and bra. Tony took the strap of her bra between his teeth and slid it down her arm, his teeth grazing her skin, sending shivers through her body. His fingers crept around to her back and unhooked it, and in a flash, it was added to the pile of clothes on the floor. Emmy slid her hands down Tony's shoulders, then down his arms, moving to his firm obliques, to his hips, and she removed his boxers, tracing the V of his abs. In a swift motion, Tony removed Emmy's panties and threw them to the floor, then they began to make love, rocking back and forth, rhythmically, together.

When they were finished, they lay silently, hearts beating, both breathing hard, particularly Tony. They soon fell asleep and lost all track of time.

_

* * *

_

_The next day..._

Emmy let out the breath she'd been holding, as she looked at the results showing on the pregnancy stick she held in her hand. She had been feeling dizzy, nauseated, and fatigued for several days, even having to go home early from work one day, so Abby had insisted she get a home test and take it.

It was two pink lines. Positive.

Emmy wasn't sure how she felt about suddenly being pregnant. Growing up, she had always said how she never wanted kids. However, now she was carrying Tony's child. This was entirely different. She was happier with him than she had ever been in her life, and she would not change that, not for anything.

But they were busy finishing getting ready to leave for the United States Virgin Islands, their honeymoon destination, in the morning. She didn't want to let Tony know and get him all worked up, when he was already excited for the honeymoon.

She decided to tell him later. She came out of the bathroom and went in the living room, where he was watching a movie.

"Are you OK, babe?" he asked, looking up at her. "You look pale."

"I'm alright," Emmy said. "I'm just tired. We need to head to bed early tonight, if we're gonna catch our 6:30 a.m. flight to the USVI tomorrow."

"Alright, I'll be there in a minute. You go ahead and go up," Tony said.

"OK," Emmy said, kissing his head before leaving the room. Half-asleep, she changed into her pajamas and got into bed. She was asleep before Tony even came up to the room. A little worried, he stripped down to his boxers, lay down and curled his body next to hers, and also soon fell asleep.

* * *

The next morning, Tony and Emmy got up at 5 a.m. to catch their 6:30 a.m. flight to the United States Virgin Islands. Tony slept most of the flight, though Emmy was not feeling well, so did not sleep. They arrived before lunch the same day and checked into their hotel. They spent the rest of the day taking an island tour, walking around, doing some shopping, and figuring out what all they wanted to do for the rest of their two-week stay.

On day 2, they spent the day at Trunk Bay, walking the pink beach, riding horses in the surf, snorkeling, and Tony even learned how to surf (Emmy refused). Tony had a bit of an issue learning the hard way how to snorkel properly; every time an interesting fish went underneath him, his breathing tube would fill with water and he got a few mouthfuls of salt water before learning. They had dinner at Beachside Café, the sun setting slowly around them.

On day 3, they enjoyed some local music entertainment and went sailing. They also took in an exotic birds show, and went dancing in the evening.

Day 4 consisted of a submarine dive, a helicopter flight, a trip to Paradise Point, and they went kayaking.

On Day 5, they toured a nature conservancy and went on a safari.

They spent day 6 mostly on and in the water, para-sailing, and they also visited Point Udall and went whale watching. Neither Tony nor Emmy had ever seen a whale before, so both were very excited when they did for the first time.

On day 7, Tony and Emmy slept late, exhausted from their first several days' worth of doing things. When they finally decided to get up around ten, they took a long drive and found a secluded hiking trail that had no indication, as to where it led. Curious, they looked at each other and nodded, deciding to see where it went.

They parked the car and walked the path, holding hands, backpacks slung over their shoulders. The path split off in two directions, and they followed both; one path led to a cliff, which rose about twenty feet above a crystal-clear natural pool.

They paused for several moments, looking at it. They could see the bottom in places, but for the most part, could not.

Then Tony looked at Emmy. "I think we should jump," he said.

"What?" Emmy asked, giving him a look.

"I think we should jump it," Tony said. "It would be fun."

Emmy looked nervous. "Tony, I don't know..." she said nervously.

"Would you like me to go check the water level?" Tony asked.

"Please," Emmy said, nodding. "It would make me feel better."

"OK," Tony said. In a flash, he changed from his street clothes to his swim trunks and took the path on the right that led down to come out beneath the cliff, by the water. He waded in until he was up to his shoulders and could see Emmy standing on the cliff, watching him.

"It's nice and cool," he called up to her, treading water and back-stroking a little, looking up at her.

"OK, you've had your fun, now come back up here," Emmy called down to him.

Tony waded back to the shore and ran back up the path to her. By the time he had returned, she had changed into her swim suit as well.

"Ready?" he asked, looking at her.

"Yes," Emmy said. She looked quickly at him. "Listen, Tony, if something happens... I love you."

"I love you, too, but nothing will happen, I promise," Tony said, kissing her.

Then Tony and Emmy joined hands, looked at each other for a moment, and jumped.

Tony swam quickly up to the surface and tread water, waiting for Emmy to also surface.

He began to panic when, a few long moments later, she did not.

"Emmy?" he called, looking around for her. Then he noticed the red in the water. "Emmy!" he yelled. "Oh, my God!"

He dove below the surface and could see her lying, unconscious, at the bottom of the pool. He could barely see her through the red haze. He felt around until he found her arm, then felt around again until her found her other arm. He pulled her into his grasp and kicked to the surface, gasping for air when he broke the surface. He swam over to the pool's edge, where there was a small sandbar, and laid her down, face-up. He listened for breath sounds and checked for a pulse: nothing.

He began chest compressions, then gave her two rescue breaths. He continued this until finally, she regained consciousness and coughed up water. She tried to say his name, but it came out as nothing more than gurgling, as she choked on more water. She slipped back into unconsciousness, so Tony checked again that she was breathing and her heart was beating: this time, it was. He turned her on her side, in case she started to vomit or cough up more water.

Tony knew he needed to get an ambulance there and fast. Emmy was badly hurt and needed immediate medical attention. Checking her a second's notice before, he got up and ran up the hill, to where they had left their backpacks at the base of the cliff. He grabbed both bags and ran back down to her, pulling out his cell phone. He dialed 911 and sank to his knees next to her. He explained what had happened and gave their location. Then he hung up.

Emmy was semi-conscious again.

"Em, I'm sorry, but this is gonna hurt," Tony said, before pressing both hands firmly, but gently, on her head wound.

Emmy screamed in pain for a moment, then passed out again. She lost and regained consciousness several times before the ambulance finally arrived.

"Are you family?" one paramedic asked, as he and his colleague lifted Emmy onto a gurney and strapped her down, per protocol.

"Yes, I'm her husband," Tony said, trying not to lose it. "Where are you taking her?"

"Puerto Rico's 20 minutes from here by air," the first EMT said. "We'll stabilize her there, then move her to the States."

Tony nodded and went with them. The entire flight to the hospital, he held Emmy's still hand, silently, unmoving, hoping desperately she was alright.

* * *

_Well, there you go, readers. Action! Right away! I don't remember who it was, but a reader mentioned 'Il suo amore' moved too slowly for a while, so of course, right away, I started thinking up lots of action things to put into the sequel, as it was too late to change the parent story. However, despite losing the original sequel chapters, most of the story is already written and I will continue working on it this summer when I can. Expect my writing to drop off a bit around the end of August, but that's two months away, so we've got a lot of time yet. I will be updating a chapter a week, so stick around. And as always, if you read, please review to tell me what you thought! Thanks._

_Renthead07  
_


	2. Waiting

_Hey, guys. It has been a very long week for me. A maternal cousin unexpectedly collapsed and died on Saturday night, the 26th, while attending a family reunion on his dad's side (his mom is my blood aunt). The autopsy results came back yesterday afternoon, and at this point, we think he suffered a massive cerebral hemorrhage, and likely died almost instantly. __Though someone told me all the details, they are sketchy to me and I couldn't possibly relay them if I tried. I do know, had he survived, he would have probably been in a vegetative state, so it seems death was the better, though very much harder, alternative option. __I know he died very quickly, and hopefully, painlessly. He was only 30. He would have been 31 yesterday. His funeral was on his birthday. My family's grief is huge, so these past few days have been very hard, with getting Craig's youngest brother, Michael, back from boot camp and getting other family together in Craig's hometown for the memorial dinner and funeral, among other things. Lots of hugs shared, tears shed, stories told, and memories shared._

_I am very tired, hoarse from crying so much since Saturday, and thankful I have today and Monday off from my full-time job, in order to try and get things back to normalcy here, what with taking care of my dad's huge yard and big house, as well as an old, very faithful dog. I'm not used to having all this responsibility all of a sudden! Have to work my weekend part-time job, though, because it's their busiest summer weekend, being 4th of July, too. Sigh.  
_

_In the words of Fergie (in "Be Italian", from the movie "Nine"), Live today as if it may become your last. In the words of Rent, No day but today! And in my words, Never be hesitant to tell someone you love them, because you never know when it may be the last time._

_I do not own any references to, or quotes borrowed from, Hiatus, Part I or II, which may/will appear in this chapter. Here is chapter 2.  
_

**Chapter 2— Waiting**

* * *

The steady beep of the heart monitor was the only thing that interrupted the dead silence in Emmy's ICU room 10.

While in Puerto Rico, Emmy's condition had stabilized and she had been flown to Florida Hospital Neuroscience Institute in Orlando, Florida for immediate emergency surgery. She had bleeding between her brain and her skull, called a subderal hematoma, which needed surgery as soon as possible to relieve the pressure and stop the bleed. As soon as they had arrived to Florida, Tony had called Simon and Lily, letting both sides of Emmy's family in on what was happening. He called them every hour with an update.

A few hours later, Emmy's surgery was over and she was placed in the ICU, after some time in Recovery. A doctor came out and called Emmy's name. Tony stood up and went over to him.

"Please come with me," the doctor said. Tony nodded and followed him into his office. "I'm Doctor Carter," he said, "Chief Neurosurgeon here at FHNI."

"How's she doing?" Tony asked, cutting the small talk and getting to the point.

"Mrs. DiNozzo is stable," Doctor Carter said. "However, she will remain in ICU at least overnight, possibly until she wakes, due to her heart and breathing stopping at the scene like it did. CPR was the best thing you could have done for her. You did everything you could."

Tony nodded. He did not feel that had been enough.

Then Doctor Carter dropped a bombshell.

"Are you aware Mrs. DiNozzo is pregnant?"

Tony was blown away. "No," he said. "How far along is she?"

"Almost two months," Doctor Carter said. "As soon as we realized this, we did an ultrasound."

Tony nodded silently. "And her being unconscious won't affect the baby?" he asked.

"No," Doctor Carter said, "not within the—"

"— 48-hour window," Tony finished for him.

Doctor Carter nodded. "However, non-medically induced comas are very tricky things. Their effects are harder to predict and control, and the longer she is unconscious, the higher the likelihood of there being brain damage and other complications." Tony nodded. "Besides that, we won't let her starve and she's on oxygen. Considering the situation, the baby is showing to be doing extremely well."

Tony heaved a sigh of relief, nodded, and ran his thumb over his wife's still hand. They still had a lot of time before the 48-hour window was up, then the coma risked complications arising.

"Doctor," he said, as a thought occurred to him, looking at his wife's still face, "is she in pain?"

"It's difficult to say," Doctor Carter said. "She may be hurting, but now that she is recovering, not in excruciating pain."

"Why not give her painkillers, just in case?" Tony asked, remembering Jenny asking the exact same question four years ago, when Gibbs had been in a coma from an explosion.

"Opiates would only deepen her coma," Doctor Carter said. "I want her to wake up, so until she does, I won't prescribe her pain medication."

"I understand," Tony said, remembering Gibbs' doctor saying the exact same thing before. This was giving him a series case of déjà vu.

"I have to go check on some other patients now," Doctor Carter said, "but I will be back soon, probably within the hour. If anything happens while I or the nurses aren't here, press the call button and someone will come. Tiffany is the main nurse on duty tonight, so she's here if you need to talk."

"OK," Tony said, "thank you, Doctor."

Doctor Carter gave him a small smile, before leaving the room. Tony looked back at Emmy, willing her with every fiber in his being to wake up.

* * *

A little while later, Tiffany knocked and entered the room.

"Hey. How's she doing?" she asked quietly, conversationally, though the serious situation had not changed. Emmy still remained unconscious.

"No change," Tony said, not looking at her.

Tiffany placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. "Well, you've still got time," she said. "I know saying that probably doesn't help, but people come out of these things all the time. Theoretically, she _should _wake up; question is, when, and if she wants to."

"I can't think of any reason why she... she..." Tony began, but he couldn't finish his sentence. He didn't dare say it, in case it came true, that he couldn't think of any reason why she would not want to wake up.

"She has to wake up, Tiff," Tony said. Though he stated this firmly, his voice was filled with desperation. "She has to know that we have a child to bring into this world and raise."

Tiffany nodded, as she checked Emmy's vitals. "Her vitals are improving," she said. "This is good. Maybe if you talk to her, it will help. Some people say they heard people and 'saw' things while unconscious. Give it a try."

"OK," Tony said, nodding.

"She's doing alright, considering," Tiffany said, "so I'm gonna leave you two alone."

"Thank you," Tony said, looking over his shoulder at her, as she left. He looked back at Emmy and squeezed her hand gently. "Em, if you can hear me, listen to me. You have to wake up. You are carrying our child, who has to grow, so he or she can enter this world, and we can raise him or her together. You can't leave me like this. Please, please wake up."

Tony couldn't stop the tears from forming in his eyes and cascading down his cheeks. He gave in to the grief and laid his head down on her bed, and soon, his tears put him to sleep.

* * *

_As always, if you read it, please review to tell me what you thought. Thank you. I will update chapter 3 around July 9. Happy early 4th of July, all.  
_

_Renthead07_


	3. Fiona Alison

_Hey, guys. It has been a frustrating week for me so far. Lots of things went wrong at work or else I didn't like the tasks I was given to do and such. But the next 3 days, tomorrow being my day off, should be better. It will be nice to have a break from city work and do other work, when I am working my second job. I'm no longer hoarse, which is great. My voice is actually completely back to normal today, which makes me happy. I am still really tired, but it's been a long couple weeks, lots on my mind and such, so... But I'll live._

_Here's __chapter 3 for ya. Thank you to Tiffany331 for RP'ing some of it with me. It helped a lot with creating it. Enjoy.  
_

**Chapter 3— Fiona Alison**

**

* * *

**

He almost couldn't believe it when he felt her squeeze his hand.

"Emmy?" Tony asked, almost certain he had been imagining it. "Babe, can you hear me? Emmy, if you can hear me, do that again."

Then it happened again. She squeezed his hand a second time.

"Emmy, if you can hear me, open those pretty eyes and look at me," Tony said gently.

Tony held his breath, then a few moments later, Emmy's eyes fluttered open.

"Hi," she said weakly.

"Hey," he said softly, heaving a huge sigh of relief. He pressed the nurse call button and told Tiffany, who answered, that Emmy had woken. "How are you feeling? God, I was so worried about you."

"My head really hurts," Emmy said, wincing. She lifted her hand and felt the bandages encompassing her head, as Tiffany entered the room, with a tray with applesauce, water, and green Jell-o on it.

"Hey," Tiffany said, "glad you decided to join us." Emmy smiled weakly, but it came across as more of a grimace. "How are you feeling?"

"My head really hurts," Emmy said. "Can I get something for it?"

"There are two Ibuprofen tablets on the tray," Tiffany said, "that you can take with water. They will take the edge off."

"OK," Emmy said, and she swallowed the small pills with water, as Tiffany checked her vitals. "Nothing stronger?"

Tiffany glanced at Tony, who shook his head. Neither of them was sure if Emmy knew yet about the pregnancy. Regardless, Tiffany couldn't give Emmy anything stronger, for the baby's sake.

"Give that a few minutes to kick in and see if it helps," Tiffany said. "If it doesn't work at all, I'll talk to Doctor Carter about something stronger."

"OK," Emmy said. As she began to slowly eat and sip some water from the large plastic jug, she asked Tony, "Tony, what happened?"

"You don't remember?" Tony asked, concerned.

Emmy looked down for a moment, before meeting his gaze again.

"I remember jumping," she said quietly, seriously.

"We did jump, but you hit your head on a rock in a shallow spot, and had bleeding between your brain and your skull, but you're OK now and everything's gonna be OK," Tony said quickly, tears forming in his eyes, as he stroked what little of her hair had escaped the bandages.

Emmy noticed tears sparkling in his eyes. "You're crying," she said, alarmed.

Tony nodded. "Yeah, well, I thought you were..." he began, but he couldn't finish.

"Hey," Emmy said softly, "it's OK, babe. I'm OK and you're OK and it's gonna be alright now."

"Em," Tony said suddenly, because he felt if he held it in any longer he would explode, "did you know you're pregnant?"

There was a long silence, then—

"I was going to tell you," Emmy said quietly, suddenly dropping her gaze.

"Why didn't you?" Tony asked, not accusingly.

"Well, I knew you were excited for the honeymoon, so I figured I'd wait until we at least got there, and then we got really busy, and then..." Emmy said quickly, but she didn't finish her sentence, either, because she began to cry. "Tony, I'm so sorry."

"Hey, no, don't be like that," Tony said firmly. "It was _not_ your fault."

"But what if something had happened to the baby?" Emmy asked, crying.

"But nothing did. The baby is fine," Tony said. "Besides, it was me who suggested it."

"Well, I let you," Emmy said. "It never should have happened."

"You're right," Tony said, "but it did happen and nothing can change that now. Calm down, babe. You need to calm down and get some rest and get better. I need to go call Gibbs and your family and give them another update. I wanted to wait a bit, until you woke up."

He began to stand, but stopped when Emmy grabbed his hand. "No, please stay," she said. "You can call them in here."

Tony wasn't entirely certain about that, however, he gave in. He had been waiting for hours to hear those words.

"Alright, I'll stay, but only if you promise to try and get some sleep," Tony said. "Eat, then sleep a little, and while you're sleeping, I'll call."

"OK," Emmy agreed. "Please don't go anywhere."

"I will be just right outside the room," Tony assured her, "I promise."

Emmy nodded, then began to eat her first meal since the incident, and fell asleep after. Tony quietly stepped out into the hallway to make the promised call to Gibbs and her family.

Tony returned to Emmy's room immediately after calling Gibbs, after calling her parents. Emmy was still sleeping. She did not wake when he lay down on his roll-away cot, and despite his racing thoughts, since he finally could, Tony quickly gave in to sleep as well.

* * *

Two weeks later, Tony returned to work full-time, despite wanting to stay home with Emmy, who was still recovering from the accident. Her head had finally healed and she was doing better every day. He had stayed home with her the first week they got back to the States; she insisted, however, that she just needed to sleep and relax and take it easy, and her friend Leah was helping look after her, in Tony's absence, so Tony gave in and went back to work. He called her often during the day and had arranged with Gibbs and Vance to be able to leave to go to Emmy whenever she needed him.

Somehow, Abby seemed to sense his return, because he barely braced himself before being bombarded by her and her questions.

"Tony!"

"Oof," Tony groaned, as Abby's petite body made contact with his muscular one, with surprising force. "Hey, Abbs."

"Gibbs told us what happened!" Abby exclaimed. Before Tony could even open his mouth to reply, she launched into one of her infamous worried rants. "I can't believe it! How is Emmy doing? How are _you _doing?"

"She's alright," Tony said. "She just needs to rest and get better. She was very lucky. I'm doing alright. I'm tired, too. It's been a long couple weeks."

Abby nodded, waiting for more.

"But I have good news," Tony said, inwardly flinching ahead of time.

"What?" Abby asked. "Come on, Tony, do not put me in such suspense! Tell me! Please?"

Tony smiled. "Emmy's pregnant."

Abby shoved him back with both hands. "Shut up!" she squealed excitedly. "Yay, yay, yay, yay, yay! That is soooo exciting! When is she due? How is she feeling? Is she showing yet? Do you know the gender yet? Do you have names picked out? What about godparents? How are _you _feeling about it? Ooh, you have to let me help you decorate the nursery, please?"

"I'm thrilled," Tony said, breaking her momentum. "She's due in April. She's feeling alright. But add morning sickness to recovering from a head injury, and she's being a trooper. No, she isn't showing yet. You can feel the bump if you feel around for it, though." Tony smiled, relishing in the warm, fuzzy feeling he got whenever his hands fondly roamed over his beloved wife's slightly swollen belly. "We won't find the gender out for another several weeks yet, probably in her fifth month. She's only three months along right now. No, we haven't thought about names, and thinking about godparents is a ways off yet, too."

Tony only then just registered the last thing Abby had said. "Oh, Abbs," he added, "of course you can help with decorating the nursery. But no skulls, please, I do not want my child having a Goth complex."

Abby grinned. "OK, so how do you feel about bats?" she asked. At the look Tony gave her, she added, "I'm just kidding! I'm gonna be an auntie!" she squealed excitedly. In a more serious tone, she added, "Well, again. This is so great! Ah!"

As Abby hugged him, then went dashing away back to her lab, Tony grinned and turned to Ziva and McGee. "Hey, you two," he said. "So I guess you heard all that, huh?"

"No," Ziva said immediately.

"Not really," McGee said awkwardly.

Tony narrowed his eyes suspiciously at them.

"Well, yes," Ziva amended.

"A bit," McGee admitted.

"Congratulations," Ziva said. "I take back everything I said about any little DiNozzos running around."

Tony chuckled. He had almost forgotten about that.

"That's really great news, Tony," McGee said.

"Thanks," Tony said, smiling, as he sat down at his desk and got to work.

* * *

Later that evening, Tony arrived home from work to find Emmy asleep on the couch. He watched her sleep for a few moments, debating whether or not to wake her. Then she stirred and made noises in her sleep, so he stepped forward and touched her on the arm. She opened her eyes and looked up at him.

"Hey," she said quietly.

"Hey," he said. "How are you feeling?"

"My back really hurt at work, so I got off at 4:30," Emmy said.

"I'm sorry," Tony said. "Want a back rub?"

"That would be wonderful," Emmy said.

She rolled over, so she was facing the couch, but still on her left side, the best way for pregnant women to lie down. She moaned softly as Tony's hands roamed all over her back, pressing firmly to get the tension out of her muscles.

She grunted when his hands ran over a particular spot.

"Am I hurting you?" Tony asked, immediately concerned.

"No," Emmy said. "I mean, yes, it's sore," she amended, "but it's not you. The baby's kicking."

Judging by his silence, Emmy could tell she had caught Tony off-guard. She craned her neck around to look at him. "Want to feel her kick?" she asked, smiling.

"Yeah," Tony said eagerly.

He helped Emmy change positions, so she was again lying on her left side, facing him, and he pressed his hands ever so slightly on her belly.

"You can press harder than that, silly," Emmy said, smiling. "I'm not made of glass."

Tony smiled and pressed a little harder. Then his mouth fell open, as he felt the baby kick.

"Wow," he said, "that is so cool."

Emmy smiled. "I know," she said. "Imagine what it feels like to have her inside of you."

"I bet," Tony said, not paying attention. Then his head whipped around. "Hey, you said girl..."

"You know you want a little girl dressed in pink, wrapped around your little pinky," Emmy teased him, smiling.

Tony smiled. "Indeed, I do," he said. He sat down next to her. "So, have you thought about names?"

"Yes," Emmy said, "a lot. For a while, I had all day, every day, to do so."

"And what have you come up with?" Tony asked.

"Sophia Louise or Chloe Elizabeth, for girls," Emmy said, "and Jasper, for a boy."

Tony nodded. "I like those," he said.

"What about you?" Emmy asked.

"I like Fiona Alison," Tony said, "or Jack, for a boy."

"OK, so either Sophia Louise or Fiona Alison, if it's a girl, or Jack or Jasper, if it's a boy," Emmy said. "What about Jethro?"

"No," Tony said. Emmy's eyebrows rose. "I am not naming my son after my boss. It will give him a complex."

"But he means a lot to you," Emmy reasoned. "At least a middle name?"

"Alright, maybe a middle name, if it's a boy," Tony said, "but it isn't."

"Mm, don't be so sure," Emmy said, smiling. "We'll find out tomorrow."

Tony nodded.

"Fiona Alison or Jasper or Jack Leroy," Emmy said quietly, stroking Tony's hair, from where he laid his head on her belly, feeling the baby kick more. "The baby seems to like them. What if it's both?" she asked.

"OK, hello," Tony said loudly, getting up quickly. "Don't do that to me," he said, putting his hand over his heart. "It's not."

"Probably not," Emmy said, "but we should be prepared for anything. We'll find out tomorrow."

Tony nodded and sat back down beside her.

* * *

"Mr. and Mrs. DiNozzo?"

Tony squeezed Emmy's hand, then they stood up and went with the nurse to a doctor's office.

"I'm Dinah," the nurse said, as Emmy sat in the chair nearest to the doctor's desk, and Tony sat in the chair next to her. She took Emmy's resting heart rate, blood pressure, weight, and ran a thermometer around her forehead. Then, when she finished, she said, "Emmy, if you could please sit up on the exam table, I'll bring in the ultrasound machine and Doctor Murray will be here in a minute."

"OK, thank you," Tony said, holding Emmy's hand tightly.

Dinah nodded, then left the room. Doctor Murray entered the room a minute later.

"Hello, Emmy, Tony, I'm Doctor Murray," she said, smiling. "How are you feeling, Emmy?"

"I'm alright," Emmy said. "My morning sickness wasn't too bad. I never once threw up. But now my back is really starting to hurt a lot by the end of the day."

Doctor Murray nodded, as she prepped Emmy's belly and the ultrasound tool for the ultrasound exam. "That's pretty normal," she said. "Let's see what we find, shall we?"

Emmy and Tony nodded and Doctor Murray ran the tool around. "Well, the baby seems to be growing nicely," she said. "And that," she added, smiling, "is your baby's heartbeat."

Emmy and Tony beamed happily at each other, as the sounds of their baby's strong heartbeats filled the room. Tony leaned down and kissed Emmy tenderly.

"Would you like to know the gender?" Doctor Murray asked.

"Yes," Tony and Emmy said together immediately.

"From the looks of it, my guess is you're having a girl," Doctor Murray told them. "While it's just a prediction, I've never been wrong before, so if I am, it will be a first." She smiled. "Everything else looks good, though, so Emmy, keep taking your pre-natal vitamins you got in Puerto Rico and Orlando and keep walking, because I know you like to. Everything else looks great, though, so Tony, please wipe the gel from your wife's belly, and you two may go. Good luck." She smiled, then left the room after they thanked her.

Tony smiled as he wiped the gel from Emmy's belly, kissing each spot he wiped clean. Emmy giggled happily.

* * *

A month later, Emmy was six months along. On this particular day, she and Tony now could be found painting the nursery. They planned on having yellow walls with peach trim. Tony had given Abby the dimensions of the baby's nursery and sent her off to get tan-colored carpeting, a neutral color, as they thought that was a reasonable color for either gender, though they knew the gender now.

Tony held up two cans of paint, one yellow and one peach. "Which one are we starting with?" he asked Emmy.

"'Mountain sunrise'," Emmy said.

"Is that the yellow?" Tony asked.

"No, that's the peach," Emmy said. "The yellow is 'crisp lemon'."

As Tony pried open the first can with a screwdriver, he asked, "Why can't they just call it plain yellow and peach?"

"Because that would be boring," Emmy said. "Art majors like to be creative; case in point: Abby's paintings."

Abby was, indeed, hard at work creating one of her paintings downstairs in the kitchen at that very moment. She was going to create four, one for each wall in Fiona's nursery.

"No, they like to be complicated and cause confusion," Tony said, rolling his eyes.

Emmy rolled her eyes as well. "I'll start on the trim, if you'd open that for me, please," she said.

"OK," Tony said, "but be careful. Take a break, if you need to."

"I will," Emmy said, as Tony opened the second can of paint and handed it to her, with a paintbrush.

Emmy began to work on the trim, being too short to reach most of the wall height. After a while, she took a break and sat in a chair and watched Tony paint the walls. He painted with broad strokes, up and down, and after a moment, she got lost in his slow, fluid motions.

A minute or so later, Tony noticed her watching him.

Grinning mischievously, he said, "Like what you see, Mrs. DiNozzo?"

Emmy smiled. "You know I do," she said.

Tony grinned again.

Emmy swiped her paintbrush across his arm. "That was for distracting me," she said, grinning.

"Oh, _I'm _distracting _you_?" Tony retorted, laughing. "I'll have you know you have been the epitome of distraction for the past half hour."

Emmy laughed. "I see," she said.

"Hey," Tony said mischievously, stepping closer to her, "you have something on your face."

"Where?" Emmy asked, narrowing her eyes suspiciously at him.

"Right... there." As Tony spoke, his brush neared her face. Then suddenly, he swiped his brush across her cheek, smearing it with paint.

"Ahh!" Emmy exclaimed, laughing. She threw her paintbrush at him and hit his head, staining some of his floppy hair with paint.

"Ahh!" Tony exclaimed. "OK, you asked for it!"

Raising his brush in retaliation, he began to chase her in circles around the room.

"Ahh, Tony, do not chase the pregnant lady!" Emmy laughed breathlessly.

Tony laughed, as they came together in a close hug, then kissed.

"Hey, know what?" Tony asked her.

"What?" Emmy asked, smiling.

"I love you," Tony said, kissing her forehead, then her cheek, then her lips.

"Mm, I love you, too," Emmy said, kissing him back passionately.

_

* * *

_

_Three months later..._

"Tony, wake up."

"Tony not home, leave a message..." Tony murmured into his pillow, thrashing his arm around in protest to being woken up. "Very, very busy..."

Emmy hit him on the shoulder. "Tony, for God's sake, get your ass out of bed," she snapped. "I'm in labor."

This woke Tony up; Emmy never swore, ever. "You're what?" he asked, caught off-guard. He looked at the clock on the nightstand next to their bed. It was six a.m. "Well, at least it's not disgustingly early." He got out of bed and pulled on a pair of jeans. "Are you OK?"

Emmy nodded, breathing through a contraction. "Call the hospital," she said. "I'm about six minutes between contractions. We've still got a little time."

Tony helped her get dressed into a pair of sweat pants and a loose-fitting T-shirt. Then he called the hospital and told them Emmy had gone into labor.

"They'll be ready for us. I'm gonna get your bag," Tony said. He went into the bathroom and got her bag and slung it over his shoulder, then came back to help her downstairs. "Still doing OK?"

Emmy nodded. They made it outside and Tony hailed a cab before another contraction occurred and he helped her breathe through it and get through it.

"Washington Medical Center," Tony said to the cab driver, as he helped Emmy into the cab.

The cab driver took off barely before Tony got in next to Emmy. They arrived at Washington Medical Center several minutes later and Doctor Murray met them at the parking lot, with a wheelchair and a team of nurses behind her.

"Hey, Emmy, how are you doing?" she asked, as Emmy and Tony got out, Tony paid the driver, and the cab took off.

"I'm alright," Emmy said breathlessly.

"Here, Emmy," one of the nurses said, pushing a wheelchair toward her.

"I'd like to walk," Emmy said. "I'm not sick."

"I admire your determination, Emmy, but are you sure?" Doctor Murray asked skeptically.

"Please, at least let me walk inside," Emmy requested.

Doctor Murray looked at Tony, who shrugged. Then she said firmly, "Alright, but when you get inside, we're wheeling you up to Labor and Delivery. You are progressing very quickly for a first-time mother and I don't want the baby delivered right here in the parking lot." The latter statement was addressed to the vicinity in general.

Emmy nodded and Tony and Doctor Murray helped her into the lobby area, after they helped her get through the next contraction and it had passed. Once she was inside, she sat in the wheelchair and was wheeled up to Labor and Delivery. The nurses and Doctor Murray quickly got her hooked up to an I.V. of fluids and placed a fetal monitor around her belly. Doctor Murray checked her dilation and determined she was ready to push.

"OK, Emmy, you're fully dilated and effaced, so when the next contraction comes, I want you to hold your breath and bear down and push for ten seconds, OK?" she asked.

Emmy nodded. When the next contraction came, she bore down and pushed, squeezing Tony's hand for support.

"... eight, nine, ten, and let it out," Doctor Murray instructed, from where she was positioned at Emmy's feet, preparing to catch the baby when she was born. "And push again."

Emmy bore down and pushed again, as Tony also counted next to her, his mouth so close to her temple, his lips actually brushed her ear.

"... eight, nine, ten," Tony counted next to her, his breath tickling her ear softly.

"OK, Emmy, I can see her head," Doctor Murray said, "so take a little break, and with the next contraction, this is gonna be the hardest part, pushing her head out."

Emmy whimpered and nodded, as Tony wiped her sweaty forehead with a lukewarm, damp washcloth.

The next contraction came and Emmy bore down and pushed with all her might. Tony dared sneak a peak at his child entering the world. Emmy screamed as the baby crowned, then her head emerged.

"OK, Emmy, I know it hurts a lot now," Doctor Murray said. "Just breathe for a few seconds. Suction," she added to the nurse, then she suctioned out the baby's mouth and nose. "OK, Emmy, one more push."

Emmy pushed, silently this time, then with guidance from Doctor Murray and a gush of fluid, the baby slid into the world, crying heartily.

"It's a girl," she announced. She glanced at the clock, then brought the infant up to Emmy's chest for the first mother-daughter bonding moment. "Congratulations, new parents. April 16, 2011, 7:34 a.m."

Tears of joy were running down both Tony and Emmy's cheeks. Doctor Murray waited a few minutes, until the cord was limp and white (no more blood flow), before clamping it.

"OK, Dad, come here," she said to Tony, "and cut the cord."

Emmy looked up at Tony and grinned when she saw him pale slightly at this instruction. However, looking nervous, he walked slowly over to Doctor Murray and she handed him the scissors.

"Now cut between the two clamps," Doctor Murray instructed. "It's kind of rubbery, so don't be afraid to cut hard."

Tony nodded, then cut the cord with shaking hands. He watched as the baby was taken away and weighed and measured and her footprints placed on her birth certificate, sparing himself from watching the delivery of the placenta. Then the newborn was swaddled in a pink blanket and a pink cap placed on her head to keep her warm and brought back over to the new parents.

"She's a perfect ten on the APGAR. Got a name for this little one?" another nurse asked, holding a clipboard with the birth certificate on it.

Tony and Emmy looked at each other for a moment, then said together, "Fiona Alison."

"Last name?" the nurse asked.

"DiNozzo."

"Alright," the nurse said, writing it down. "Congratulations."

"Thank you," Tony said, beaming as he looked down at his newborn daughter.

Over the next few hours, Emmy was instructed on how to breastfeed Fiona, swaddle her in a blanket, change her diaper, and other general things on caring for the newborn.

* * *

Later that morning, Emmy was sleeping. Tony was holding Fiona, talking softly to her.

"Hey, Fi, I'm your dad," he whispered to her. He paused for a moment, as the nickname rang through his mind. He liked it, but only to be used by himself, special between him and his daughter.

Tony thought it was entirely possible to already love someone so much who had just entered the world and begun her life. She opened her eyes for a moment and he saw they were hazel; green, with hints of brown and gold in the irises, no traces of blue whatsoever. For the most part, she resembled her mother; however, he could see her eyes were his, a piece of him she would carry with her for eternity.

* * *

At 12 Noon exactly the next day, there was a gentle, but impatient knock on the door. Emmy had just finished feeding Fiona and was still awake.

It was Abby.

"Hey, Abbs," Tony said, smiling sleepily, as Abby poked her head in the door, then smiled as she entered the room.

"Hey," Abby said. "How are you guys doing?"

"Good," Tony said.

Abby walked over to Emmy, who lifted the newborn into her arms for her to hold. Tony went over to beside his roll-away cot bed and got a video camera out of Emmy's bag. He began to film a short video.

"She's so adorable," Abby said. "You two make cute babies. Do you have any plans to have any more?"

Tony and Emmy chuckled.

"Not for a while," Emmy said.

Fiona made a face, and for a moment, Abby thought the newborn was going to cry. Then, as Tony filmed, the newborn let out a baby sneeze.

Abby stared, open-mouthed, at Tony, Emmy, and the camera.

"Cutest thing ever," she said excitedly.

"I got that on video!" Tony whispered, grinning, elated.

Abby smiled, then handed the newborn back to Emmy. "Thanks for letting me come, and thanks for letting me hold her," she said.

"You're welcome," Emmy said. "You're welcome to baby-sit anytime."

Abby smiled. "OK," she said. Then, after wishing them good luck, she left.

* * *

_So Fiona Alison DiNozzo is here. Welcome, Fiona! I don't know how many of you readers agree, but I have recently come to love a few stories where Tony is a father, whether as a teenager or an adult. It is completely uncharted territory that we will probably never see on the show, as he's not mature enough for it, in my opinion. I think he _would _grow up and embrace it, though, which is why I decided to write it._

_As always, if you read it, please review to tell me what you thought. Thanks. :)  
_


	4. First Halloween and Christmas

_Hey, guys. Hope you're having a good end to this week. I am having a great day and a half with my mom and stepdad. Decided I REALLY needed to get out of town and go see them and do some shopping for my voice lesson this fall, among other things. It has been a fantastic time so far and I REALLY don't wanna go home tonight, to work all day tomorrow and Sunday... I am hitting that mid-summer point where I'm beginning to resent my employment and really want to go back to school. That sort of thing happens about once every three months or so, which is why fall semester is so long, with no breaks until Thanksgiving, and why spring semester and summer goes by fast. Unfortunately, I may have to juggle my second job with school, on my birthday weekend, Labor Day weekend, when I might also have all my classes AND musical rehearsal... ahh! We'll see. I'm trying to figure out when to get together with friends, because it's on a holiday, so I might do it a weekend after and just spent it with family, and such... I dunno..._

_Anyway! Here is chapter 4, the first scene of which is probably one of my favorite scenes I wrote in the entire story so far. It's so sweet._

_Oh, p.s. I don't own any references to, quotes from, etc. "Family", season 5, episode 2. But it was perfect inspiration for the beginning of this chapter. Enjoy._

**Chapter 4— First Halloween and Christmas**

**

* * *

**

_Two months later..._

In the middle of the night on June 19, Emmy woke up. She noticed Tony's side of the bed was slept in, but cold. She wondered, why had she not woken up to check on the baby? She panicked for a moment, until she noticed a light on in the hallway. She slipped out of bed and went out of the bedroom, to the baby's room next door.

She paused and leaned on the door frame for a few moments and watched Tony hold the infant, look down at her, rock her gently and sing softly to her. She noticed an empty bottle on the dresser. Tony had clearly just fed the infant and was now putting her back to sleep.

"London Bridge is falling down, falling down, falling down... London Bridge is falling down... my fair baby," he sang softly to Fiona.

The baby gurgled softly as Tony laid her down gently into the crib.

"Hey," Emmy said softly to him.

"Hey," he said, turning to face her.

"Why didn't you wake me?" Emmy asked him, rubbing her eyes.

"It's OK, you looked like you needed the sleep," Tony said.

Emmy nodded. "I won't deny that," she said. "Thank you. How is she?"

"She's great," Tony said. "I just fed her and now she's back to sleep."

Emmy nodded.

"We should get back to bed, it's two a.m.," Tony said, coming forward and embracing her from behind.

"It's not just two a.m.," Emmy said, looking up at him. "It's two a.m. on your birthday. Happy Birthday, babe."

Tony smiled. "Thank you," he said, and he leaned down to kiss her. "I love you."

"I love you, too," Emmy said, and she followed him back to bed.

_

* * *

_

_Four months later..._

"Emmy, please don't let her do this," Tony asked his wife, on the morning of Halloween. The six-month-old had woken them up just before six, so they were tending to her needs before getting ready for work themselves.

"Why not, Tony?" Emmy asked, putting a little pumpkin hat on Fiona, as she dressed her up in an orange and black onesie with a pumpkin design on it. The hat flopped slightly over one eye. "It's Halloween. I wanna take her around a little tonight, after dinner, and see how much candy she can get." She looked confused. "Why do I get the feeling you don't like Halloween?"

"Have I ever told you about my Halloween costume fiasco when I was little?" Tony asked her.

"No, I don't think so," Emmy said.

"I was twelve and I had decided I wanted to be an astronaut," Tony explained. "My costume was amazing, very authentic, no ventilation. Sweated like no other, but what a haul I got that year. Then my dad came home and discovered I'd made one of his $3,000 designer ski suits into this astronaut costume." Emmy's mouth fell open in shock. Tony nodded. "Yeah, you heard. Don't think I sat down again 'til Christmas. My dad made me throw all my candy away, too, even the apples."

Though she sympathized with her husband's story, Emmy snorted, holding back a laugh; she couldn't help herself. Leave it up to Tony to do something so... abnormal.

"Well, Abby bought this for her and insists we try it," Emmy said. "Besides, didn't you say you thought you were working late anyway? And she won't be out all night. Just for a couple hours. She'll probably fall asleep in the car anyway."

Tony nodded and shuddered. "Yeah," he said. "Weird stuff always happens at work on Halloween. Can't wait to see what Abby's costume is this year."

"What do you mean?" Emmy asked him.

"Abby wears period costumes," Tony said. "One year, she was Marilyn Monroe, complete with infamous wig and halter dress."

Emmy's eyebrows rose. "Wow," she said, "that sounds great."

"It was pretty genius," Tony said.

"What else are you worried about?" Emmy asked, as she finished dressing the little one.

"Weird cases always happen on Halloween," Tony said, shuddering, "which is why I'm not expecting to be back until late tonight."

Emmy nodded. "OK," she said, "well, be safe."

"You too," Tony said. He got dressed, then kissed her before heading to work.

* * *

"May I have this dance?" Tony asked, smiling, as he entered the forensics lab and saw Abby in costume.

Abby, as expected, had worn a period costume; this year, it was a velvet showgirl costume, including a feather and sequined headpiece and velvet gown with feather-trimmed opera gloves.

"Hey, Tony." Abby smiled, typing on her computer. "So is Emmy taking Fiona around trick-or-treating tonight?" she asked.

"Yes," Tony said reluctantly.

"Good, she'll love it," Abby said.

"Abbs," Tony said firmly.

"What?" Abby asked. "She's a baby, Tony, you can't not let her have fun."

"It's just candy, Abbs," Tony said. "She's not going to be able to eat it anyway. And I know Emmy won't eat most of it. We're just gonna throw most of it away, what I don't eat."

"Well, since we're gonna be here all night, have Emmy bring her by before bed, so she can go trick-or-treating around to us, at least, please, please, please?" Abby begged him.

"Alright, Abbs, I'll call Emmy and let her know to do that," Tony said.

Abby smiled, having gotten her way, and went back to her computer. Then Tony left.

* * *

Later, Emmy had gotten through security and gotten the all-clear to go up and see Tony and bring six-month-old Fiona trick-or-treating at Headquarters. She stepped out of the elevator and into the bullpen and walked forward toward Tony's desk. As she approached, he looked up.

"Hey," he said, smiling.

"Hey," Emmy replied, smiling as well.

"How's she doing?" Tony asked.

"She's great," Emmy said. "I know she can't eat the candy, but I figured I'd take her around anyway."

Tony smiled. "Hang on, I'll call Abby up," he said.

"OK," Emmy said.

Tony picked up his phone and called down to the forensics lab. "Hey, Abby, Emmy's here. Yes, she brought Fi with her. OK, see you soon." He hung up and looked up at Emmy. "She's on her way. Prepare yourself for a possible glomp and prepare Fiona to be spoiled."

Emmy smiled, as the elevator dinged and opened. Abby bounced out, a small bag of candy in her hand. To Tony's surprise, Ducky was behind her.

"Hey, Ducky," Tony said. "How did Abby lure you up here?"

"Well, we're not currently working a case, so I wanted to take a few minutes to see the little pumpkin myself as well," Ducky said.

Tony nodded, smiling.

Ducky went over to Emmy, who smiled as she let him hold the infant.

As Abby brought over the bag of Halloween treats and gave it to Emmy, Ducky said, "'The sky is blue, the grass is green. May we have our Halloween?' That's how we used to say 'Trick or Treat' in Scotland."

Emmy smiled. "Thanks, Ducky, and Abby, of course," she said. "I know she can't actually eat the candy, but I really appreciate the thought."

"Of course, my dear," Ducky said, smiling.

"Yeah, no problem," Abby said, also smiling. "Go ahead and take her around. You've got a lot of desks to hit."

Emmy smiled and continued walking around the bullpen with Fiona.

* * *

Christmas season was upon NCIS and holiday cheer could be found everywhere, right down to the honey dust Gibbs received in the mail, to Tony singing Christmas carols at his desk, drumming on the desk to the beat, to the garland Ducky and Abby hung everywhere.

After getting through security, showing her I.D., and calling up to Gibbs to get the clear to go upstairs, Emmy took the elevator up to the bullpen, eight-month-old Fiona in her arms. She smiled as the elevator doors opened and she saw her husband at his desk, finishing paperwork for the day.

He looked up and smiled. "Hello, ladies," he said fondly. He put down his pen and went around his desk to Emmy and Fiona and took his daughter into his arms. He kissed her cheek in quick succession and asked, "How's my best girl, huh?"

Fiona smiled at her father, giggled, and covered her eyes, feigning infant embarrassment.

Tony smiled and looked at Emmy. "Are we still going to the party tonight?" he asked.

"Of course," Emmy said. Gibbs entered the bullpen and came over. "Hello, Gibbs," she greeted him.

"Hey, Emmy," he said, smiling at her, as he went and sat at his desk, coffee in hand.

"Boss, are you coming to the party tonight and joining us for the DiNozzo showing of 'It's A Wonderful Life'?" Tony asked Gibbs.

"Sure," Gibbs said.

"I've never seen it," Emmy said.

You could almost hear a pin drop in the following silence.

Tony was speechless. "Are you serious?" he asked, shocked. "You've _never... seen..._ 'It's A Wonderful Life', with James Stewart and Donna Reed?" Emmy shook her head. "What? It's a Christmas classic! How on Earth have you almost reached 40 and not seen 'It's A Wonderful Life'?" Emmy shrugged. "Well, we must remedy this as soon as possible."

Emmy looked at Gibbs. "Are you being put up to this, too?" she asked.

Gibbs shrugged. "It's tradition," he said simply.

Emmy nodded. "Well, then, I'm interested," she said.

"You'll like it," Tony said. "I don't know anyone who hasn't."

"OK," Emmy said, smiling up at him. "I put the ham in the oven at four. It should be ready around seven."

"I can't wait," Tony said, smiling.

Emmy smiled appreciatively.

* * *

A few hours later, everyone was sitting around in the living room, opening presents, after having enjoyed a wonderful dinner of ham, mashed potatoes with gravy, cranberry sauce, and two slices each of pumpkin pie— Emmy's mother's graham cracker crust recipe that had been passed down to her.

After dinner, Jimmy helped Emmy do dishes, then everyone went into the living room to open presents. From Tony, Emmy received two tickets to see _Wicked _at the Kennedy Center. From Emmy, Tony received another Hawaiiain shirt.

"And this," Abby said, as she handed Emmy a large present, "is from all of us."

Emmy opened the present, revealing a black briefcase.

"Awe, thank you, guys," she said. "My old one is falling apart. This is wonderful. Thank you."

Next, Tony brought over an enormous present, from him and Emmy to Fiona. Emmy helped her rip into the paper, as the infant didn't know how to open presents yet. It was a jogger, the perfect size for the growing infant.

Later, Tony assembled the baby jogger, then he and Emmy put Fiona to bed, with help, of course, from Abby. They tickled her little arms and legs until she fell asleep, something Emmy's parents had done to her and her twin sister, Lucy, growing up. Then they went out to the living room and settled down with everyone to watch 'It's A Wonderful Life'. Tony and Emmy shared the larger couch with Ziva, who curled up cat-like next to them. McGee and Abby shared the smaller couch. Jimmy and Gibbs sat in pillow chairs on the floor and Ducky relaxed in Tony's big LazyBoy recliner.

When the movie was over, Tony and Emmy bid everyone Merry Christmas and goodnight, then headed upstairs to bed themselves.

* * *

_As always, if you read, please review. I've gotten about 650 hits on the story so far and only 5 reviews. With the parent story, "Il suo amore", a reviewer told me no reviews was due to lack of action, slow plotline... well, the beginning of this story moved much faster than the parent, so I was/am hoping for more reviews... I will continue updating, but it's a little disheartening if I update to lack of reviews (Tiffany331, you know I make an exception for you, for several reasons). If you do review, thanks. My thanks go out to angeleyes46, Mistress Rachet, and sarahsrr, who have reviewed so far. Tiff, I know yo uwill when you can, don't worry._

_Chapter 5, which will be one of my trademark tearjerkers and probably the best chapter of the entire story, so be prepared, will be posted up around July 23._


	5. The Bird Has Flown

_Hey, guys. It's been an alright week for me. Spent the entire day working with my favorite coworker, which was pretty good. I have tomorrow off (I have every Friday off and always have, which, after putting in 40 hours in 4 days, is wonderful) and my only plans are a run to the bank, spending some time at the library, checking out, like, 11 books (I have a to-read list of, like, 50, haha), and watching a Disney movie with a good friend (due to anti-Disney brothers growing up, she has seen very few, if any, Disney movies, and she's taking a family vacation to Disneyworld in September, so I'm catching her up on the ones I own.) :)_

_Can't believe it's only about 33 days until I go back to school (and an **INSANE **schedule! 17 credits, musical rehearsal, Messiah practice, an off-campus job, AND an on-campus job, AHH!) and about 45 days until I turn 21. I'm excited, because I'll be spending the night of with friends (though none of us will be getting drunk at all, my three best girlfriends don't drink) and the following day (Labor Day, which I have off from school) with both sides of the family, celebrating with my twin sister as well (though neither side will be together at the same time). I'm excited, nervous... something. Yeah. Anyway..._

_I do not own any references to, or quotes from, Judgment Day, Part II that will appear in this chapter. This chapter will be very sad. There will be a MAJOR character death, so be prepared. This is your only warning. Though she is not a fanfiction member, I have to thank my friend Christine for helping me along with getting inspiration to begin this difficult chapter._

_It will be sad._

_This is your only warning._

_I'll wait for you to get your Kleenex..._

_OK, got your Kleenex?_

_Sorry about the massive before-chapter author note.  
_

_Here is chapter 5.  
_

**Chapter 5— The Bird Has Flown**

**

* * *

**

_Ding._

At 0700 the next morning, Gibbs, Hot Fresh Coffee in hand, stepped out of the elevator. Steely blue eyes quickly took in the scene in front of him; Ziva, seated at her desk, doing paperwork, having likely arrived there two hours prior, McGee typing away at his computer.

Tony hadn't arrived yet.

His eyes narrowing slightly, suspiciously, Gibbs went over to his desk and sat down.

"Anyone seen DiNozzo?" he asked.

"No," both McGee and Ziva said together.

Gibbs' eyebrows rose.

"Perhaps something went down at home," Ziva suggested.

"Came up," McGee corrected her.

Ziva scoffed. "Whatever," she said. "He has an eight-month-old daughter. What do you expect?"

McGee shrugged. "Maybe Abby knows," he said.

_Ding._

Three heads turned and looked, as Tony stumbled sleepily out of the elevator.

"Late night, DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked.

"Morning, Boss," Tony said loudly, straightening up immediately. "Sorry I'm late."

"You look tired, Tony," Ziva said. She put on her best mocking expression. "Not firing on all... thrusters this morning?"

"Pistons," Tony corrected her automatically. Ziva frowned at him. He looked between her and the paperwork on his desk, and back to her, no smile on his face. "And no. Fiona kept me up half the night."

"Did Emmy help you out?" McGee asked.

"No, I let her sleep," Tony said.

"That was nice of you."

Tony made a noise of both disagreement and frustration.

Gibbs and the three agents were again distracted, as the elevator doors opened again, and, to their surprise, Abby and Palmer stepped out and quickly went over to Gibbs.

"Gibbs, have you seen Ducky?" Abby asked.

"No, Abbs. Why?" Gibbs asked.

"Because the family of the petty officer who died in the car accident yesterday, two weeks before he was due to redeploy to Iraq, is here," Abby said quickly, "asking for Ducky's services, but Ducky isn't downstairs. Palmer came up and asked me if I'd seen him, because he wasn't there when Palmer got there and Ducky's never late, unless something's wrong. Anyway, we know he was coming back from vacation yesterday, so maybe he's just driving slow or enjoying the sights or something. I hadn't seen him yet, which is why we came up to ask you and the others if you'd seen him."

Gibbs picked up his desk phone and called Ducky's cell phone.

"Straight to voice mail," he said, then he clicked off the line before clicking it back on and dialing Ducky's home number. "Nothing," he said, after four rings and the Scotsman's cheerful answering machine message began to play.

Gibbs got up from his desk and barked out orders. "McGee, trace Ducky's cell. He has it with him if he leaves his house. And put a BOLO out on his Morgan. I wanna know where he is. Tony, with me, we're gonna go to his house and take a look around. Ziva, stay with Palmer and Abby, in case Ducky shows up here."

"On it, Boss," McGee said, and he began typing on his keyboard. Ziva nodded and picked up her phone and began to call for the BOLO.

Tony grabbed his backpack, holstered his Sig and .22 caliber back-up gun, then, his adrenaline rushing slightly, headed out with Gibbs.

* * *

Gibbs' knock on Ducky's front door echoed loudly, confidently, throughout the front porch. Gibbs looked at Tony, puzzled, when they heard a dog barking from inside.

"Thought they had gotten rid of those Corgis, Boss," Tony said reluctantly, cringing slightly at the memory of protecting Mrs. Mallard and her yappy, overprotective Corgis. Mrs. Mallard had, after all, died three years prior. Ducky had then gotten rid of all but one Corgi named Hammy.

"Check the backyard, DiNozzo," Gibbs said. Tony went around through the side gate and checked the backyard. Nothing.

"Clear," he called, then he came back over to Gibbs.

Gibbs went over to a window and peered through the partly-open curtains. He could see inside to the living room.

"No one home," he said to Tony.

"Where do you suppose he is, on a Monday, without reporting in, Boss? Appointment?" Tony asked.

"Not all morning," Gibbs said suspiciously. "Something's up." They headed back to the Navy Yard, and when they walked into the bullpen, Gibbs' desk phone was ringing.

"Boss, got the BOLO on—" McGee began, before Gibbs sped-walked over to his desk and picked up the phone before it went to voice mail.

"Gibbs... Yeah. Where is he?..." Then there was a long pause, before Gibbs said, softer, more seriously, "What? Is he OK?"

Tony, Ziva, and McGee looked at each other nervously, watching Gibbs' expression gnarl more with each long moment. Abby stood motionless next to Palmer, clutching his shoulders.

Then Gibbs nearly dropped the phone.

"Yes, we're on our way... Thank you," he said, his voice shaking, before hanging up.

The three agents did not take their eyes off their lead field agent, whose entire body was visibly shaking.

"What, Gibbs? What is it?" Abby asked nervously, clenching her hands together.

"It's Ducky," Gibbs whispered. "He's dead."

* * *

Abby's hands flew to her mouth. Ziva looked most distressed. McGee and Jimmy both stammered something indistinctly. Tony was speechless.

The former Marine's heart, however, felt like it was about to drop right out of his chest and fall to the floor and shatter to pieces.

"What happened, Boss?" Tony asked. He felt like he'd been sucker-punched in the gut.

"Coming back from Charleston, about 12:30 a.m. this morning, Ducky fell asleep at the wheel, flew off the road into the ditch. His Morgan rolled six times. Police said he broke most of the right side of his body and died almost instantly," Gibb explained numbly. "They didn't find his body or car until about twenty minutes ago."

Gibbs looked at Palmer, who met the former marine's gaze with surprising steadiness. "Palmer, we're gonna bring in another M.E. to do the autopsy. Probably Doctor Jordan Hampton."

Palmer nodded. "Glad to help," he said. Then he amended awkwardly, "That came out wrong..."

Gibbs nodded understandingly; the junior M.E. was always willing to help and do his job well, even if he didn't always think before he spoke. "It won't be easy to do," he said.

Palmer nodded again in agreement.

Gibbs watched Abby carefully, as she turned and left the bullpen.

"McGee," he said.

"Yeah, Boss?"

"Go with her. Make sure she's OK."

McGee nodded and went after Abby. Ziva now approached Gibbs. Gibbs looked at her silently.

"Abby is not the only one we are worried about, Gibbs. I am sorry for your loss. _Our_ loss," she said quietly.

Gibbs sighed, then gave her a sad smile, nodded, and placed his hand on her shoulder. She gave him a small smile back. Nothing more needed to be said.

* * *

McGee watched Abby warily, as she rushed around her lab, carrying some of Ducky's personal effects, which had arrived to her, bagged and tagged. She had been crying from the moment she entered her lab.

Suddenly, her hands shook so badly, she dropped his coat, hat, and glasses. The apparel crumpled in a heap on the floor. One of the lenses popped out of the frame, the other cracked. Abby bent down to pick up the effects, but sobs overtook her and she remained still, unable to move.

McGee went over to her and bent down and picked up the glasses, carefully set them on the table, and hung Ducky's trench coat over his arm and took the hat in one hand, and one of hers in his other.

"It's OK... Abby, it's OK," McGee said softly.

"No... It's not," Abby whispered, between sobs.

Abby got up and began typing furiously on her computer.

"Abby, slow down," McGee said, also standing and turning to face her.

"I can't," Abby said firmly. "Gibbs doesn't suspect foul play, but I'm still gonna analyze these effects for... something. Maybe we're missing something. Maybe the LEOs haven't figured it all out yet," Abby said.

"Abby, you heard what Gibbs said," McGee said. He placed his hand over hers, on top of the mouse. "He didn't suffer."

Abby paused. She did not look around. "Are you sure?"

"I'm positive." McGee stood quietly next to her, staying strong for her.

Without hesitation, Abby turned around and threw her arms around his neck. McGee sighed and patted her awkwardly on the back.

"It's just... it's never going to be the same without him..." Abby said quietly, "ever again... I mean, first Kate, then Jenny... now Ducky. I'm scared to find out who's next."

McGee sighed. "I know," he said, looking up at nothing in particular.

* * *

Tony couldn't take it anymore. He was going to go crazy if he sat at his desk, doing nothing, any longer.

McGee had not yet returned from the forensics lab. Gibbs was out getting more coffee; the former Marine had practically mainlined it all day. Ziva was sitting, motionless, at her desk, so still she looked like she was barely taking a breath.

Tony pulled out his cell phone and called Emmy. He knew she was at work, but he needed to see her. Right now. He needed to take her into his arms and tell her he loved her and that he never wanted to let her go again, or he might lose her.

It had happened again. He had lost someone he was close to.

He knew this time wasn't his fault, like Jenny's death hadn't been.

So why was he feeling so guilty?

He had to get away, just for a while.

Tony got up from his desk, grabbed his backpack, and went over to the elevator. He pummeled the up arrow button until the elevator dinged, then without looking at Ziva, he pushed Close Door and the elevator closed and descended, as he hit speed dial 3.

"Hey, babe, what's up?" Emmy said cheerfully, when she answered. "You just caught me walking out of the courtroom— a dismissal. Dismissals are fun, because they're always quick."

"I need to see you," Tony said seriously. "Now, please. It's important. Just come outside in, like, five minutes and I'll be there."

"OK. What's wrong?" Emmy asked nervously.

"I'll tell you when I get there. Just please be there," Tony said, trying not to lose control.

"I will. See you soon," Emmy said, before Tony hung up.

* * *

Emmy met Tony outside the courthouse, five minutes later. Tony rushed up to her and hugged her tightly.

"Tony, what's going on?" she asked, very confused, before he cut her off and kissed her passionately.

"I needed to see you," Tony said desperately, "to tell you I love you so much and I don't know what I'd do without you. Never hesitate to tell someone you love them, because you never know when it will be the last time."

"Tony, _what's_ going on? Why are you saying this? Did something happen?" Emmy asked, alarmed at her husband's behavior.

"Ducky's dead, Em," Tony said, as he began to cry.

"_What?_" Emmy breathed, stunned, her mouth falling open. "When?"

"This morning, we think," Tony said, looking down at her. "He was coming back from Charleston on vacation and he fell asleep at the wheel and flew into the ditch and his Morgan rolled six times. We still don't know the results of the autopsy. Doctor Hampton hasn't started it yet."

Tony thought of Gibbs' Rule Number 10: Never get personally involved in a case. But he figured the rule that didn't have a number now mattered more: Never be ashamed of tears.

And Tony wasn't.

Emmy pulled Tony's shaking frame close to her, as he cried bitterly.

"Oh, my God, Tony," she said quietly, "I'm so sorry. What can I do?"

"Nothing," Tony said, once his crying lessened and he regained his composure. "I just wanted to see you and let you know that I love you so much and that we're all coming over tonight." Emmy's eyebrows rose, surprised and confused. "Don't be overwhelmed. We're just gonna order take-out and go through Ducky's stuff and make a scrapbook, to kill time until we get the autopsy results back. Abby's idea for the memorial in a couple days."

"OK," Emmy said. "I'll at least make a dessert. Hip-Huggers won't take long."

Fudge bars, also known as Hip-Huggers, were a wonderful oatmeal-and-chocolate bar dessert Lily had passed on to Emmy, from Emmy's grandmother. They were easy to make and Emmy loved to make them. It would be the least she could do.

"That sounds wonderful, babe. Thank you," Tony said quietly.

Emmy smiled weakly.

"I have to get back to work," Tony said. "We're all heading out soon. Don't feel obligated to leave work, unless you want to."

"I can call in a family emergency and pick Fiona up from daycare and come home," Emmy said. "Judge Donovan will understand."

"OK. Thank you," Tony said. "We'll be there soon. We're all just thinking about it and trying to leave."

"OK. I love you, Tony," Emmy said, kissing him.

"I love you, too," Tony said, before turning and leaving.

* * *

Gibbs waited silently in Receiving, as Ducky's body was brought in by two of Doctor Hampton's assistants. Doctor Jordan Hampton stood next to him. After a moment, Dr. Hampton followed him down to Autopsy.

Gibbs paused suddenly, as the doors hissed open.

He had walked through these doors countless times, almost taking it, them, Ducky, for granted, while working cases, endured hundreds of stories, both relating to and not relating to cases, and shared many moments of camaraderie with one of his closest and most cherished friends.

It was hard for him to imagine now he would never hear the stories, see Ducky there, or walk through these doors the same way, ever again.

"Would you like some time alone?" Doctor Hampton asked him.

Gibbs looked at her for a long moment. Then he nodded.

Doctor Hampton nodded. "Take all the time you need."

Gibbs nodded his thanks, then she left Autopsy. He pulled a chair up next to the slab, then pulled the sheet back and uncovered Ducky's partially bruised face. He sat back in the chair and sighed, not taking his eyes off the late Medical Examiner. Sometimes, Gibbs hadn't found the right words to say, while Ducky had been alive.

Now he couldn't find the right words to say in his death.

Gibbs stared at Ducky's still face. If Gibbs didn't know better, he might have thought the older man was simply sleeping.

Gibbs let out a heavy sigh. Then he broke one of his biggest rules.

"I'm sorry it had to end this way, Duck."

The silver-haired man slowly stood up and walked to the Autopsy doors.

Doctor Hampton was waiting patiently for him outside the door.

"I'm sorry for your loss, Agent Gibbs."

Gibbs nodded. "Thank you."

Doctor Hampton placed a consoling hand on his shoulder, then she went into Autopsy, as Gibbs left and went back upstairs.

Later, the autopsy results came back: Ducky had died of massive internal bleeding, broken bones, and head trauma. Had he survived, he probably would have been in a vegetative state, unable to be revived. As harsh as it might sound, Gibbs was very slightly relieved; in his mind, sometimes death is a release, not a punishment, and he knew his old friend was in a better place now.

Director Vance had hired a grievance counselor, whom he knew all the agents would refuse to see. He had also given them time off to rest and to grieve, though he knew he would need to force them to take it at all. The agency hung their flags outside at half-mast in Ducky's memory.

* * *

Tony was ready to leave the building by ten a.m. He knew without voicing it that the team was going to meet at his house, to get away from work, but remain together nevertheless. They knew Gibbs would attempt to retreat to his sawdust-filled basement and his boat, but they wouldn't let him.

Tony walked up to Gibbs' desk, trying to ignore the major headache that was quickly forming in his left temple.

"Boss."

Gibbs looked up, eyebrows raised.

"You're not allowed to be alone tonight."

Gibbs narrowed his eyes at Tony, waiting for more.

"You wouldn't have seen the email Abby sent out, since you don't check your email... We're all getting together at the DiNozzo house tonight, to go through Ducky's stuff and put together a scrapbook of pictures and such from his house," Tony said. "Abby's idea."

Gibbs nodded. "I'll be there."

"OK. I'm sorry, Boss," Tony said, looking down at Gibbs.

"Don't apologize, DiNozzo," Gibbs said firmly.

"I know, Boss, but—"

"It wasn't your fault."

"I _know_, Boss," he repeated, firmer. Gibbs' eyebrows rose again, this time at Tony's tone. "It wasn't yours, either, so don't even think about it. It wasn't any of our faults." Gibbs nodded. "Well, pack your stuff and let's go. Abby and Jimmy are gonna make lunch and dinner— Ziva, too. And Emmy's coming home."

"Are you telling me what to do, DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked, standing up swiftly.

Tony stood firm. "Today, I am, Boss. It's for your own good."

Gibbs stared at Tony for a long moment, then, to Tony's surprise, he gave a small smile.

He knew the senior field agent was bossing him around only because he was looking out for him.

"Come on, Tony," he said quietly, gently, shouldering his backpack, then slowly heading out of the bullpen with his three best agents.

* * *

Three days later, Ducky's funeral went by in a blur. The team silently watched the pallbearers carry the casket to the grave. It was hard to believe Ducky was dead. They had known he was getting older, but it was still hard to believe he was really gone. And so suddenly, too.

Ziva's eyes were red-rimmed from when she had been crying silently and tears streamed down her face. Abby was crying uncontrollably, being held by both McGee and Palmer. Tony held both Emmy and Fiona close to him, tears shining on his face. Emmy could barely speak, she was crying so hard. Gibbs's face was also shining with tears shed for his late friend, colleague, and mentor, but he had yet to speak.

Jimmy stood up and walked to the altar, a piece of paper in his hands, to deliver the eulogy. It was short and to-the-point. After a few quiet sobs, he swallowed hard and slowly began to speak.

"There are people in this world who just seem like they are, um, meant to be teachers. Um... this particular man was not an actual real teacher in a school or anything, but he was so much more than that. He was a mentor, always filled with stories and wisdom. He had a big, kind heart and open arms and ears. He always had a smile on his face— except when I got the M.E. van lost, of course, which was often."

A chuckle went around the room at this statement, and Jimmy allowed himself a small smile and a moment to enjoy his joke. Then he cleared his throat and went on.

"Though we will, um, probably not remember his stories, we will always remember him," Jimmy went on, looking up at the mourners, "and the impact he had on all our lives— as a team, as coworkers, and as people. He will not be forgotten. His legacy will live on, in both our hearts and minds." Jimmy looked at the crowd and smiled. "Find peace, Doctor Mallard. I think you already have."

After Jimmy finished giving the eulogy, they all stood silently and listened to the pastor.

"While we may think it's unfair, God does have a plan. And we must take comfort in knowing that Donald is now in Heaven."

After the pastor finished, Tony and Gibbs watched silently, as Abby went over to the gravestone and laid down 11 black roses, one from each member of the team, including Director Vance, and four from Emmy, Fiona, Gerald, and Doctor Hampton, who also attended. Then, tears streaming down her face, she kissed her fingers, then pressed them to the headstone and whispered softly.

"We love you. Bye, Ducky."

* * *

_Sorry it was so sad. I seriously was not expecting to write it. At all. I can't even tell you what possessed me to, really. I believe I was rationalizing that Ducky could not possibly be alive in chapter 7, as we jump about 16 years and it will be 2027, and he's already around his 60s in season 7 in 2009/2010, so... it was... logical. Yeah, I dunno..._

_On a brighter note, we have witnessed the appearance of my second-ever Ziva-ism! I'm excited for and happy about that, at least. :) And at this very moment, I'm watching Leap of Faith for the second time ever... it's intense! I like it and hope it re-airs again soon! Tony hanging from the parking ramp wall and all. :)  
_

_Please review. Thanks to Tiffany331, angeleyes46, Mistress Rachet, mamamia1964 (hope your move is going alright!), and sarahsrr for reviewing so far._

_Renthead07  
_


	6. Growing Up

_Readers, you will be happy to know, some of this chapter is from the original that was lost! I have not, unfortunately, regained the chapters lost from my flash drive, but I believe part of this chapter was in a Facebook private message I sent to my beta reader, Tiffany331, and was able to reuse it again and work from it, or something along those lines. I'm happy about this! It isn't nearly as good as having the original, of course, but that will never happen, sadly. Oh, how I wish it could... But if it could, chapter 5 might never have happened._

_I realized a couple days ago, I accidentally fibbed to you guys in the previous chapter. I had forgotten that I don't jump 16 years until chapter 7, not 6. So, theoretically, Ducky **could **still be alive in this chapter. But alas, due to the story kind of writing itself for a while, he isn't. Like I said, chapter 5 was completely unexpected, in more ways than one. Sorry. *Waits for multiple virtual head-slaps*_

_Anyway, I hope you enjoy. Here is chapter 6, much happier than the previous, I promise. :)  
_

**Chapter 6— Growing Up**

**

* * *

**

"Daddy, can you take the training wheels off my bike today?" five-year-old Fiona asked, at breakfast one summery Saturday morning. "I want to ride my bike through the puddles."

"Um, sure, kiddo," Tony said, caught off-guard. "Are you sure you're ready?"

"Yes, Daddy, I'm ready," Fiona said, smiling.

"OK, then we'll take them off after breakfast. How does that sound, kiddo?" Tony asked her.

Fiona nodded, smiling, and finished eating her scrambled eggs and ham.

After breakfast, Tony worked to take off the training wheels. Then, as Emmy watched, he adjusted Fiona's helmet to fit properly and showed her how to speed up, brake, turn, and even how to ring the little bell they'd installed on her right handlebar, without taking her hand down from the handlebar.

Tony held onto her handlebars, as she rode a few circles around the driveway. Then, when she said she was ready, he held on until she had gotten her balance and some speed, then he let go. He jogged beside her, in case she would lose her balance and fall, and she rode for the first time completely by herself.

After several more slow circles around the driveway, Tony felt Fiona had already mastered riding. She already loved it.

Suddenly, after one of her many circles around the driveway, Fiona rode through a particularly deep puddle next to Tony and Emmy, spraying them with muddy water.

"Ahh!" Emmy and Tony exclaimed together, laughing.

"Fiona Alison!" Emmy yelled after her daughter in a scolding tone, but she was laughing as she leaned into her husband's embrace.

"Hey," Tony said to her.

"Hey, what?" Emmy asked.

"You look good dirty," Tony said mischievously, smiling and stepping close to her and holding her close.

* * *

Emmy pulled up in front of Fiona's elementary school and parked. She got out and accompanied the six-year-old to her classroom. She also met her teacher, Miss Hanna.

Fiona turned and looked up at her mother, teary-eyed. "Mommy, I don't want you to go," she said.

Emmy didn't quite understand why Fiona was so nervous; she had attended kindergarten the year before. However, she remembered from her own experience, for a child, each new school year was nerve-wracking, no matter what. So she knew she needed to talk to her daughter and encourage her and make her see that everything was going to be OK.

"I know, baby, but it'll be great, I promise," Emmy said. "I loved first grade. I had a great teacher, who I see even nowadays sometimes."

"What do we do?" Fiona asked.

"Well, I don't know what your teacher has in mind, honey, but I'm guessing you'll color, finger paint, play games, sing songs, have story time...

"Mom, do I have to go to school today?" six-year-old Fiona asked, as her mother pulled up the car in front of her elementary school and parked it.

"Yes, sweetie. Why, are you nervous?" Emmy asked. Fiona nodded. "Well, I wouldn't be nervous. I loved first grade. I had a great teacher. And you liked kindergarten."

"What do you think we'll do?" Fiona asked.

"Well, you might do story time, you might do some cursive writing, you might color, um... You might sing songs, you might do some math or science or reading. I don't know, honey, you'll have to go to find out," Emmy said, smiling slyly.

"Well, alright," Fiona said. "When will you pick me up?"

"At three, but it will be your dad who is taking you to daycare today, because I will be stuck at work until at least five," Emmy said. "I should be home to make dinner, though."

"OK," Fiona said, and she unbuckled her seat belt and began to get out of the car.

Emmy got out of the car and went over and made sure Fiona had her backpack squarely on her shoulders. She accompanied Fiona inside and met her teacher, then hugged her daughter goodbye.

"Say hi to the other kids and make some new friends, and your day will be easier," Emmy said to Fiona.

"OK," Fiona said. "I love you, Mommy."

"I love you, too, baby," Emmy said, kissing the top of her daughter's head before leaving.

* * *

At three p.m. that day, Tony picked Fiona up from school. He smiled as she came bouncing over to the car. Clearly, she had had a good first day.

"Hey, kiddo," he said, as she got in and buckled her seat belt. "How was your first day?"

"Good," Fiona said.

"What did you do?" Tony asked, as they began to drive home.

"We colored and played games and had recess and sang songs," Fiona said.

"Did you make any new friends?" Tony asked, as they began to drive off.

"Yes," Fiona said.

"How many?"

"Five."

"Five?" Tony asked theatrically. "Wow. What were their names?"

"Kelly, Christine, Leah, Charlotte, and Charlie," Fiona said.

"That's great, kiddo," Tony said. "What else did you do?"

"We made crafts and did some math and reading," Fiona said.

"Sounds like a great first day, kiddo," Tony said, smiling at her in the rear-view mirror.

Fiona nodded in agreement. Tony smiled and inwardly sighed with relief. He was glad Fiona had had a good first day of school and was already adjusting to school so well.

* * *

"Mom, can you read me a story?" eight-year-old Fiona asked, one school night, as Emmy was putting her to bed.

"Sure, baby, what story would you like?" Emmy asked.

"What was your favorite book when you were eight?" Fiona asked.

"Hmm," Emmy said, and she took a moment to think about it. "I'm not sure, kiddo. I suppose the 'Little House On The Prairie' series. My mom started reading them to me when I was about your age."

"What are they about?" Fiona asked.

"They're about a little girl named Laura Ingalls, who lives in a big forest in Wisconsin, with her mom, dad, her big sister, Mary, little sister, Carrie, and their bulldog, Jack. They're her adventures growing up."

"Do you still have them?" Fiona asked.

"Sure, they're in the library," Emmy said. Emmy had a small library room set up between the guest bedroom and family room downstairs. "Want me to read one to you?"

"Yes, please," Fiona said.

"OK."

Emmy went downstairs to the library and pulled the first book of the series, 'Little House In The Big Woods', off the shelf. She paused for a moment and caressed its pages and smelled the ink within the old pages, remembering the countless times her mother had read them to her as a child. Of the entire series, this was her favorite, besides 'Farmer Boy', which contained stories about Laura's eventual husband, Almanzo Wilder. Emmy went back upstairs, the book in her hands.

"Scoot over," she said to Fiona, who made room for her to snuggle up on the bed.

Emmy opened the book carefully, as it had begun falling apart years ago from heavy use, and began to read.

When Emmy read about Laura's bulldog, Jack, Fiona looked up and asked her, "Mommy, why don't we have a dog?"

"Um, I don't know, honey, you've never asked," Emmy said, caught off-guard.

"Well, can we get one?" Fiona asked.

"We'll see, honey, but a dog is a lot of responsibility," Emmy said. "I work all day and so does your dad, and he works even more when they have a case, and you're in school all day... Who would take care of it and potty-train it and teach it to sit and fetch and roll over and all those things?"

"I would," Fiona said, naturally. "Please, please can we get a dog?"

"We'll see, baby," Emmy said. "Remind me another day and we'll see if we can go around and look, alright?"

"OK," Fiona said.

Emmy resumed reading again, and eventually, she looked down and noticed the little girl had fallen asleep. Emmy smiled; she was probably dreaming about getting a puppy. She slowly got up, so as not to wake the child, tucked the covers up to her chin, kissed the top of her head, then left the room. She went back downstairs, placed a bookmark where she'd left off, and placed it back on the shelf. Then she went into the family room, where Tony was watching the news.

"What was the story tonight?" he asked, hearing Emmy enter the room.

"'Little House In The Big Woods', from the Laura Ingalls Wilder series," Emmy said, kissing the top of Tony's head, before going to sit in her chair. "My mom read them to me, starting when I was her age, so I decided to pass on the tradition."

"That's a great idea," Tony said.

"I know," Emmy said. "I hope she'll love them like I do, and like my mom does. My mom gave me the old ones and bought an entire new mint series for herself." Tony nodded. "Fi asked for a dog tonight."

"Did she?" Tony asked, surprised. "What did you tell her?"

"I told her a dog is a lot of responsibility and that you and I work all the time and she's in school, so who would take care of it? I said we'll see, which translates to 'no' in kid language," Emmy said.

"Well, maybe if we don't bring it up again, she'll let it go," Tony said. "You're entirely right, we aren't pet people, at least not here in D.C., and this has nothing to do with _me _not being a pet person."

"I thought you had sea monkeys?" Emmy asked.

"I did, until my mother _drank _them," Tony said pointedly, staring up at her.

Emmy nodded. "I guess we'll find out if she'll drop it or not. I know she won't," she said. "I'm gonna head up to bed and read for a little while."

"OK. Goodnight. I love you," Tony said, as she came over to him.

Emmy kissed him goodnight. "I love you, too. Goodnight," Emmy said, before leaving the room.

* * *

_I hope you liked it. Much happier and sweeter than the last chapter, which all of you, including I, needed, after the last chapter. Please review. Thanks to new reviewer, anci2506, for the new feedback._

_Renthead07_


	7. Life Lesson

_Hey, guys. Hope you are having a good week. I only have 8 more work days with my full-time job! Then school starts a few days after that, but at least I will only be working 22 hours a week, on top of 17 credits, my on-campus job, my church job, etc. AHH! I'm gonna hit the ground running and it's gonna be crazy, but I'll do my best! Today's work was a bit laborious, but yesterday was harder. I'm exhausted, so excited and hoping to sleep in tomorrow._

_Anyway...  
_

_I initially had no idea what to call this chapter. I'm still kinda iffy on the title, so it might change, but maybe not. Some of this chapter was inspired by, and partly borrowed from, the children's movie _Beethoven's 2nd_, which I don't own. Don't sue me. :) Here is chapter 7._

**Chapter 7— Life Lesson  
**

* * *

It's 2027 and Fiona is now sixteen years old and finishing her sophomore year of high school. Slender and tall, about five-seven, she has surpassed her mother in height. Her eyes, like her father's, are hazel as ever, and she has her mother's long, beautiful, thick brunette hair.

In March, Fiona had been asked out on a date by the most popular boy in school, a tall, blonde, blue-eyed senior named Chase McBride. Several more dates followed, then he asked her to be his date to the end-of-school-year celebration barbecue party their high school was putting on at the end of May, to celebrate a close to another school year. Excited he had asked her, Fiona had said yes.

The party began at 4:30 p.m., with buses taking them to the party at 4. Fiona had gotten up early that morning to pick out an outfit to wear. It was a green sundress that complimented her hair and eyes.

When the bus dropped her off at home at 3:15, she raced upstairs to her room to get ready, not even saying hello to her parents beforehand. She knew she didn't have a lot of time before Chase picked her up in his car, to meet the busses that were taking them to the party.

As Fiona was finishing her make-up and doing her hair, the doorbell rang. She ran down the stairs to answer it.

"Whoa, kiddo, slow down," Tony said, as she blew past him and swung the door open.

"Hi," Chase said, smiling at her.

"Hi," Fiona said breathlessly, smiling back at him.

"Nice outfit," Chase complimented her. "You aren't wearing that to the party, are you?"

"Thank you," Fiona said, smiling again. "I have my swimsuit underneath. I wanted to make a good impression."

"Are you ready to go?" Chase asked.

"Yeah, I just need to grab my backpack and I'll be ready," Fiona said.

"OK, I'll wait," Chase said.

Fiona bolted back upstairs and grabbed her backpack, then met him at the base of the stairs. They quickly made to leave.

"Hold it, you two."

Fiona grimaced, then turned to face her father.

"Dad, if you are gonna interrogate him, please make it quick," she said. "The buses are leaving soon and I will be pissed if you make us miss them."

"I've just got a few questions," Tony said, narrowing his eyes at her. "Where is this party tonight?"

"Sandy Point State Park," Chase said. "45 minutes from here, depending on traffic."

"Is it chaperoned?" Tony asked.

"Yes, teachers will be there, as well as a couple security guards and the DJs," Chase said.

"I see you got a speeding ticket," Tony said. "85 in a 35, wasn't it? And you're driving Fi there?"

Fiona glared at her father. Chase blushed. "You checked him out?" Fiona growled at her father, outraged.

"I wouldn't be doing my job, Fi—"

"You're off-duty," Fiona argued stubbornly.

"— as a father, if I didn't," Tony finished firmly.

"It's OK, Fi," Chase assured her. "I'm only giving Fi a ride to the buses, then the buses are taking us there."

Tony bristled slightly at Chase using the nickname for his daughter that he felt only he had ever had permission to call her. However, he relaxed, feeling Emmy's gentle hand touch his arm.

"How long will the party last?" Tony asked.

"We should be back in town by 11, depending on traffic," Chase said.

"Alright," Tony said. "11:30, no later, unless I hear from you first."

"Yes, sir," Chase said.

"Have fun. Be safe," Emmy called after the two teenagers, as they turned to leave. The door slammed, then Emmy turned to Tony and cocked an eyebrow at him. "Did you have to do that?" she asked him, her hands on her hips.

"Of course I did," Tony said suspiciously. "That was the best looking teenage boy I've ever seen. He might be sneaky."

Emmy rolled her eyes and walked away from him, ignoring him continuing to spy on the teenagers through the blinds.

Outside, Chase opened the passenger-side door for Fiona and held her backpack for her, so she could get in and not mess up her dress. Then he handed her her backpack and got into the driver's seat.

"Sorry about my dad," Fiona said. "Since he's a Special Agent, a _very _special agent, he can be a little protective."

"It's OK," Chase said. "I've seen worse."

"You have?" Fiona asked. Chase nodded. "I don't wanna know."

Chase smiled and they drove off.

* * *

Fiona smiled and relaxed in Chase's arms, inhaling his sweet scent, as they danced in slow circles to soft, slow music the DJs put on. She had had a great night, with dancing, boating, swimming, and playing beach volleyball.

Chase lifted his head from Fiona's shoulders and began to pull her aside.

"Chase," she asked, "where are we going?"

"It's a surprise."

Fiona frowned skeptically at him, but followed him nevertheless, up a hill, to a small shack, full of storage items. Chase held open the door and let Fiona in first, then shut the door behind himself.

"Chase, what are we doing here?" Fiona asked, confused.

Then she became distracted, when he started kissing her neck and his hands ran through her hair and traveled down her body, never breaking contact with her body, coming to rest on her hips. He kissed her collarbone and she shuddered at the sensitivity. His kisses traveled up her neck, sending more shivers through her body, to her earlobes.

When his hand started to travel up her shirt, Fiona froze and pushed him away.

"Chase, stop," she said.

"What?" he asked, frustrated she'd stopped him. "What did I do?"

"I don't want to do this now," Fiona said, "not here."

"What are you, some kind of tease?" Chase asked, frustrated. "I thought this was what you wanted?"

"It's nice, but I feel like this is too rushed," Fiona said. "Think about it. We have our whole lives to decide if this is really what we want to do. We shouldn't make the decision so rashly. Certainly not here."

"We can go somewhere else," Chase suggested. "I mean, you want me, right?"

"Get over yourself. I just told you why. Don't pressure me or I won't want to do it at all," Fiona said. "Besides, what if we get caught?"

"We won't get caught," Chase said, and he resumed kissing her again.

"Chase, knock it off," Fiona said. "I said no."

"Well, I said yes!"

Suddenly, he pushed her back and Fiona's feet got tangled up in an extra volleyball net and she tripped and fell backward. Without warning, Chase's hand came out of nowhere and he back-handed her in the face, hard. As her nose started to bleed, Fiona screamed and tried to get away, but he covered her mouth with one hand and held her down with the other. Fiona bit down, hard, until she tasted blood. Chase let go with a yell of pain and Fiona rolled away and kicked him in the groin when he tried to advance on her again.

She got up, pulled open the door, and ran down the hill without another look back. Trying to stem her nosebleed, she ran past all the students, teachers, even the cops, ignoring all questions thrown at her about what happened to her face.

She waited until she was out of earshot of everyone, then she pulled out her cell phone and hit speed dial 6.

"Yeah, Gibbs," he answered, after two rings. Even after being retired from N.C.I.S. and having lived in Stillwater, Pennsylvia, for four years now (he still had a house in D.C. as well), he still answered the phone the same old way. It was a habit he was probably never going to break. Tony had taken over for Gibbs as head of the team, though Vance was still Director.

"Gibbs, it's Fi," Fiona said, trying not to panic and break down and cry over the phone. "I'm out at Sandy Point State Park. Can you come get me?"

"What happened?" Gibbs asked, hearing the fear in the teenager's voice.

"I'll tell you when you get here. Just please come get me," Fiona said, panicking.

"I'm on my way," Gibbs said, before hanging up.

20 minutes later, Gibbs arrived. He immediately went over to the teenager.

"What happened?" he asked. Fiona was crying too hard to speak now. "Get in the car."

After Fiona got in his car, Gibbs went over and quickly told the teachers who he was, and that he was taking Fiona home early. Then he got in the car and put pedal to the floor.

"How did you get here so fast?" Fiona asked him, through her tears.

"Never mind," Gibbs said evasively.

Even Gibbs couldn't drive four hours in twenty minutes. As it was still light out, Fiona thought she could guess where he had been, to get to her so quickly: Shannon and Kelly's graves at the Washington, D.C. city cemetery.

"What happened?" he demanded again, as they drove away.

"Chase got me alone and wanted to have sex with me, but I said no, and he attacked me," Fiona cried.

"Where is the little son of a bitch?" Gibbs asked. "I should go back there and kick the bastard's ass. Distract me, so I don't turn around."

"No, Gibbs, please, let's just get away from here," Fiona said, shaking her head.

Gibbs nodded.

After a few minutes of stewing, he calmed down. "You need to tell your parents," he said.

"Yeah, right, like that'll ever happen," Fiona said.

"You could have gotten hurt worse," Gibbs said. "I'll take you to my place and get you cleaned up, but then you need to call them and tell them what happened."

Fiona shook her head. Gibbs got frustrated further.

"If you don't, the school will."

Fiona looked at him, surprised.

"You heard. Like it or not, they're gonna call your parents and tell them you headed home early with your dad's former boss, and they're gonna wonder why, even if it isn't me who tells them."

Fiona sighed and looked away. She wasn't looking forward to that conversation.

When they arrived to Gibbs' house, he accompanied her inside and into the kitchen. He gently cleaned the cut on her face, where Chase had hit her, as she continued stopping her nose from bleeding. He got some ice from the freezer and wrapped it in a washcloth and placed it on her face, which had already swelled in some places.

After a while, the ice had mostly melted. Fiona followed Gibbs upstairs. She noticed a quilt folded up on the edge of the bed, with a K embroidered on one corner— this was clearly Kelly's old room.

"Gibbs, I don't know if I should—" she began.

"It's OK," Gibbs assured her, "really. Get some rest."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. Get some rest, then we'll call your parents later."

"Gibbs, I'm not going to—"

"Don't argue," Gibbs said sharply, gruffly, and Fiona was silenced.

"Alright," she said. "Thank you."

Gibbs nodded and did not hover; he quickly left the room. Fiona laid down on the bed and pulled the covers up to her chin and was quickly asleep.

* * *

After about an hour, she woke up to hearing voices drifting up from downstairs. Realizing the voices belonged to her parents, she bolted out of bed and ran down the stairs, anger boiling up inside of her.

"Did you tell them?" she demanded at Gibbs, storming into the kitchen.

"Nope," Gibbs said simply.

"Then why are they here?"

"The school called and told them I'd taken you home early," Gibbs said, in an "I-told-you-so" manner.

Fiona scowled at him and crossed her arms over her chest. Emmy got up and went over to her daughter.

"Baby, what happened?" she asked. "Please talk to us."

"Chase wanted to have sex with me, but I said no, so he attacked me," Fiona said through her tears.

"Why didn't you come to me?" Tony asked her. Gibbs looked at him. Tony added quickly, "Not that she shouldn't have gone to you, Boss. But I'm her father."

"Because I knew you'd overreact," Fiona said. "I wanted a ride home, not a ride to jail for being an accessory to murder."

Tony frowned. "I want him restrained," he said, "or I might press further charges."

Fiona nodded wearily in agreement. Then she looked down, as her phone's text message alert went off. She opened her phone and read it, then pressed her hand, hard, against her mouth, trying to prevent herself from sobbing.

"What's wrong, baby?" Emmy asked her.

Fiona said nothing; she simply handed her phone to her father, who read the message. With every word he read, his expression got angrier.

_I'm not sorry. This was your decision. Either you do it, or I'll find someone else who will._

"I can't believe the little bastard," Tony said angrily. "It's like all you are to him is his little sex toy, to get his fifteen minutes of fame. He's lucky I can't castrate him."

Fiona nodded, as her mother held her as more tears streamed down her cheeks.

"I'm gonna get that restraining order, kiddo, don't you worry," Tony said.

Fiona nodded, as Tony opened his arms and she went to him for a hug.

* * *

Later that day, Tony found Fiona in her room, crying.

"Hey, kiddo, why are you in here crying by yourself?" Tony asked, after knocking. He went over and sat down next to her on the bed and held her. "Talk to me, if you want."

"I don't know what to say," Fiona said, "except so this is what it feels like."

"What is, kiddo?" Tony asked, though he had a hunch.

"When someone doesn't love you anymore."

"Oh, kiddo," Tony said quietly, wrapping his arms around her. "Someone will always love you. Your mom and I will always love you. Always."

Fiona smiled wearily.

"And think about it. You and Chase weren't even together that long, incident or not," Tony said. "And clearly, you weren't meant to be together. I'm glad you're OK. He could have really hurt you."

Fiona shrugged. "Yeah, I know."

"You won't feel this bad forever," Tony said, kissing the top of her head.

"OK. Love you, Daddy," Fiona said.

"Love you, too, kiddo," Tony said.

When Tony left the room, Fiona changed into her pajamas and got ready for bed. She fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.

* * *

Summer arrived and in July, Fiona attended music camp for creative writing, musical theater, and choir. While attending choir week, she also participated in show choir, choreographed dancing to music.

On the second day, while dancing, Fiona met a handsome, kind blonde boy named Seth, who was the same age as her. She also got to know a girl named Andrea, who was from Philadelphia. Seth had come over and talked to her after their Monday night evening activity, a movie. It had been _The Incredibles_, as the camp did not allow for anything higher than G-rated movies, due to younger campers attending other sessions at the same time.

"So what did you think of the movie?" Seth asked, as he walked Fiona and Andrea back to their dorm before their nightly meeting with their deans. Seth's dorm was right down the hill and his meeting was soon to start as well.

"It was great," Fiona said. "I love _The Incredibles_."

Seth smiled. They got to Fiona and Andrea's dorm and Andrea went inside to join her dorm mates and wait for Fiona and give her a few minutes alone with Seth. It was ten minutes before ten.

"It's a beautiful night," Seth noted, looking up at the clear sky, within which a full moon floated.

"Yeah, the moon is amazing tonight," Fiona said.

Seth smiled again. "You know," he said, stepping closer to Fiona, "the moon is not the only thing that is amazing tonight."

Fiona blushed and smiled appreciatively. Then Seth looked around quickly, making sure the coast was clear, before leaning down and kissing her softly.

Fiona froze, stunned, for a moment, after their lips parted. She couldn't say anything; she could barely breathe. Rendered speechless, she looked up at him.

"I had a good time tonight," he said softly. "See you in the morning."

"OK," Fiona said, and she went in her dorm before her dean took role call. She hardly paid attention to the meeting, having heard it all the week before, during creative writing week. When the meeting was over, as they were getting ready for bed and the deans were turning off the lights, Fiona told Andrea in whispers all of what happened. Then, somehow, despite still thinking about it all, Fiona fell asleep.

* * *

_In case any of you are curious, I wanted Gibbs to retire to Stillwater, Pennsylvania, not Mexico, because Mexico is mentioned so much on the show as the place Gibbs _would _retire, I wanted to do someplace different that still fit, that wasn't clich__é or expected or whatever__, which is how I feel Mexico is. Plus, Mike Franks isn't a favorite character of mine. Those are my excuses to any of you who don't like the idea of Gibbs retiring to Stillwater... but I do. :)_

_As always, please review. Thanks._


	8. First and Last Time

_Hey, guys. I've had an alright week. My work truck has been having acceleration/fuel filter problems, so it's a bit of a pain to drive at the moment, but we don't have the time or whatever to fix it, and I only have 4 more work days left before that summer job finishes, so yay! In other news (oh boy, reporter persona, LOL), I'm going to see Celtic Woman perform locally on August 20th! I can't wait! Other than that, not a lot else going on with me._

_So chapter 7 was not my favorite chapter to write or post. But such is life. We all need some fluff here and there. I mean, it wasn't fluff by any means, but... Anyway, I'm happy to report that pretty much everything from here on out, I think, is/will be original writing. I don't believe much of this chapter in particular had been written yet, when the first original chapters were deleted/lost, so here ya go. Here is chapter 8. May be slightly awkward for some readers (just warning you ahead of time, Tiff, in particular). Happy Reading._

_Oh, and before I forget, thank you to my **WONDERFUL **beta reader, Tiffany331, for the RP that can be seen in this chapter (only she and I know where it is, though, haha). It was helpful, Tiff, thanks! Also, a belated thanks for the RP that appeared in chapter 7. You know where. :)  
_

**Chapter 8— First and Last Time**

**

* * *

**

Seth and Fiona were unable to see each other again until after Fiona got home from musical theatre week. They spent most of the rest of the summer together, then began their junior year. School quickly became busy, only one of the things they did being take the ACT, but they still managed to find time to go on dates. Though Tony's pre-date interrogation made Seth a little nervous the first time, he eventually got to know Fiona's parents, and at some point, it was no longer necessary. He knew Tony was just being the protective father and didn't mind.

Junior year flew by and Seth and Fiona's final summer to attend choir week at music camp arrived. It was a fun, busy time. Tony and Emmy traveled to see Fiona, Seth, and Andrea perform, as they knew she was not planning on attending the summer after she graduated high school. The trio's final performance was a teary one. Fiona would miss Andrea, who was planning on attending college that fall on the west coast.

Senior year began, and was a whirlwind of activities. In addition to school, Seth worked weekends serving and hosting at a restaurant and Fiona worked at a local tourist center. Fiona worked Fiona got the results of her ACT back; she had gotten a 22, higher than she'd expected. Seth had done well on the test as well, getting a 28. Both teenagers got their senior pictures taken and ordered as well. Fiona was planning on attending Howard University in D.C. for criminal justice and criminology studies. Seth was also planning on attending Howard University, to major in stenography, to become a medical transcriptionist.

Christmas arrived and Fiona and Seth had been dating over a year. They planned on spending some of their winter break together, before and after Christmas and New Year's.

Seth picked Fiona up from school on the last day before Christmas break was to begin. He noticed she looked flustered about something.

"I hate econ!" she fumed, as she got into his car.

Seth couldn't help himself; despite her clear frustration, he smiled. He knew she and the class had mutual issues, but it was the last day of school for the semester. What possibly could have happened this time?

"Why?" he asked.

"Because I did horribly on the final test, for one," Fiona said.

"What did you get?" Seth asked.

"C," Fiona said, grimacing. "Taxes and laws and stuff do not agree with me."

Seth gave her a sympathetic look. "That sucks," he said, as they began to drive off. "But you really tried. Some classes, you just have to get through."

Fiona nodded in agreement. She was not a straight A student, however she almost always got A's and B's in her classes, so this was unexpected.

"And you'll have Brit Lit and Mrs. Koppinger to look forward to for next semester," Seth added.

Fiona smiled; that, she was looking forward to.

"King Arthur, Chaucer, Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet..." Seth pulled out British literature he could think up off the top of his head. "I know you'll love it."

Fiona smiled. "Yes, I will, my Romeo," she said, leaning over the center counsel to kiss Seth.

* * *

A week later, Christmastime arrived, and Seth was at the DiNozzo house on the 23rd, spending time with Fiona before the actual holiday, which they would both spend separately with their families.

Seth and Fiona were in Fiona's room, listening to music and watching a movie, Fiona's favorite, _Sherlock Holmes_. However, Fiona was, for once, not entirely interested in watching the movie. She loved kissing Seth; his kisses were light, tender, and had a slight hesitance at the end that left her begging for more each time.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Seth asked her, as they began to kiss more passionately.

"Yes. I want this. I want you," Fiona said to him.

"What about your dad?" Seth asked, between kisses.

"Forget about him," Fiona said. "He thinks we're watching a movie."

"We were," Seth pointed out, smirking.

Fiona chuckled and kissed him again. Then she asked, "Why do I get the feeling you don't want to do this?"

"I do," Seth said, "just not here. Certainly not while both your parents are home and could find us."

"So what do you wanna do?" Fiona asked, frustrated.

"I've got a couple ideas up my sleeve," Seth assured her, smiling.

Fiona sighed.

"Are you upset?" Seth asked her.

"Of course I'm upset," Fiona said. "I can see your reasoning, but I'm... confused. I need some time to think this over."

"Do you want me to go?" Seth asked.

"No, I want you to stay," Fiona said.

"OK," Seth agreed.

They lay back down together on her queen bed and finished the movie. When it ended, it was about eleven, so Seth had to leave. One of Tony's in-house rules was Seth was only allowed to stay over until eleven; otherwise it would technically be considered a co-ed overnight, which Tony didn't allow.

Seth gave Fiona a warm hug and kissed her forehead, then her lips, before heading downstairs and leaving. Tony, who was watching the news, was puzzled for a moment. Hadn't Seth just got here? Tony realized he had lost track of time.

Tony ascended the stairs and knocked before entering Fiona's room. Judging by the light shining from the crack underneath the door, he knew Fiona was still awake. When he knocked and opened the door, he noticed she was sitting silently on the bed, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Hey, kiddo," he said. "Can I come in?" Fiona nodded and Tony went in and sat down beside her on her bed. "What's up? Why are you crying?" Fiona shrugged. "Talk to me, if you want."

"I don't know how to explain it," Fiona said.

"Well, if you think of how to, go ahead and talk to me," Tony said.

"Well... Seth and I... we wanted to... well... and we didn't... and I'm... confused," Fiona stammered, blushing with embarrassment.

Tony was a little taken aback the two teenagers had tried to have sex while both he and Emmy were home. However, he said, "Well, kiddo, I think you made the right decision in not doing this so rashly."

Fiona looked up. "Really?" she asked. "But it was what I wanted."

"I know, but maybe you aren't 100 percent sure yet," Tony said. "You're still young. You've got forever to think about it and do it, you know?"

Fiona blushed again; this conversation was more awkward than she intended. "I know."

"Besides, you've seen the consequences of unprotected sex, and I know you _don't_ want a baby for several years yet, so the answer, then, is kinda obvious," Tony pointed out.

Fiona nodded.

"At least assure your old man by saying you'll wait until you're 18," Tony said. "That's not too long. Trust me, I am not _that _anxious for grandchildren."

Fiona looked up at him again, then nodded. "Alright," she said.

"Good girl," Tony said, smiling. "You look tired. You should sleep."

"I think I will," Fiona said. "Goodnight, Dad. Love you."

"Night, kiddo. Love you, too," Tony said, kissing the top of her head and hugging her before leaving the room. Fiona changed into her pajamas, then went to bed.

_

* * *

_

_Two months later..._

"No, really?" Fiona exclaimed, as she received her Macbeth test back in British Literature class, which had replaced economics class as her last class in the spring semester.

After three solid days of studying at the Academic Learning Center, she had gotten only one question wrong. While she was happy she had nearly aced it and it was still the best test grade in the class, it frustrated her that she had only missed one question.

Receiving the test back had been the last thing Mrs. Koppinger was going to do for the day. The class handed their tests back, then waited as end-of-the-day announcements came on. Then the bell rang and they all made for the door.

Seth, as usual, was waiting for Fiona outside.

"Hey," Fiona said, as she got into his car.

"Hey," Seth replied, leaning over from the driver's seat to kiss her. "How was your day?"

"Good," Fiona said. "I got an A on my Macbeth test."

"Good for you," Seth said, smiling.

"Thanks," Fiona said. "Compared to the flub my King Arthur test was, anyway."

"What did you get, again?" Seth asked, having forgotten.

"C," Fiona replied, grimacing. "They weren't happy."

Seth nodded. "Well, you did so much better this time, so they'll forget all about it," he said, smiling.

"Right," Fiona agreed, as they drove up to her house.

They walked into the house together, holding hands. Tony and Emmy weren't home from work yet, as it was barely 3:30. They went up to Fiona's room and she put Dashboard Confessional's "Dusk and Summer" CD in her stereo. They lay down on the bed together, listening to the music play and listening to each other breathe.

"Hey, I brought you something," Seth said to Fiona.

"What?" Fiona asked.

Seth went over to his backpack and pulled out a small, square box, and brought it back over to Fiona and sat back down next to her on the bed.

"What is it?" Fiona asked him.

"Open it," Seth said, smiling.

Fiona opened it, revealing a silver First Chapter Heart charm bracelet.

"'Every story begins with the first page of the first chapter'," Seth recited from memory, from the gift's description. "We've been together over a year now, so I wanted to get it for you."

Fiona smiled. "It's beautiful," she said. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," Seth said, smiling. "Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas," Fiona said, smiling again.

"Here, let me," Seth said, and he put it on Fiona's wrist.

They lay back down on the bed and Seth gently stroked Fiona's hair, making her very sleepy. They soon fell asleep, listening to the song "Stolen".

Fiona woke up a while later, hearing Emmy call her name. "Fiona, are you home?"

Seth was still sleeping. Fiona gently slipped out of his arms, careful not to wake him, and went downstairs.

"Yeah, Mom, I'm home, but be quiet, OK? Seth's asleep upstairs," she said. At the suspicious look her mother gave her, Fiona added firmly, "We weren't doing anything, Mom. We just listened to some music and fell asleep. It's been a long day. Long semester, really."

Emmy nodded, then smiled, as Seth came down the stairs.

"Hey, Mrs. DiNozzo," he said, smiling.

"Seth, how many times must I ask you to call me Emmy? We're informal here," Emmy said, smiling.

Seth chuckled. "At least once more, ma'am, as always," he said, smiling.

"And don't call me ma'am, either," Emmy said, smirking.

Seth grinned.

"Did you two have a good day at school?" Emmy asked them.

"Yeah," Fiona said. "I got an A on my Macbeth test."

"Good for you," Emmy said, hugging her. Fiona smiled.

"We're gonna head out and go for a walk or something, Mom," Fiona said. "It is Friday night before Christmas, after all."

"OK. Just be back by curfew," Emmy said. "Love you."

"Love you, too, Mom," Fiona said, smiling. Then she left with Seth.

"Your mom is pretty cool," Seth said.

"Yeah, she is," Fiona said. "I think she's pretty happy with who she is, which is awesome."

Seth smiled, and they continued on their walk, holding hands.

* * *

"This was fun. Thanks for coming with me," Fiona said, as they walked back to her front porch, a few hours later. They had walked to somewhere close and had dinner after the walk, then walked back to her house.

"You're welcome," Seth said. "I have a surprise for you for your birthday already planned."

"Oh, really? What is it?" Fiona asked.

"That's the point of the surprise, silly," Seth teased her. "It will be after your party weekend, though."

Fiona was having her party weekend with her friends before her actual birthday, as she was turning 18 on a school night.

"But that's two months away," Fiona whined. "You're gonna make me wait that long?"

"Trust me, it will be worth it," Seth assured her, smiling.

Fiona sighed. "Well, alright," she conceded, as he held her close.

The porch lights flashed off and on several times.

"Looks like your dad wants our date to end," Seth said, chuckling.

"But I don't," Fiona said. "I had a great afternoon."

"Me, too," Seth said, caressing her cheek. "I'll call you when I get home, OK?"

"OK. I love you," Fiona said.

"I love you, too," Seth said, smiling and kissing her before he left.

"So you and Seth had fun tonight?" Tony asked, as Fiona walked into the house.

"Yeah, Dad, we did. He's a great guy," Fiona said.

"You really do like him, don't you?" Tony asked.

"Yeah, Dad, I do," Fiona said. Tony nodded, looking both skeptical and suspicious. "Look, if he asks me to marry him, I'll tell him I need a little more time."

Tony smiled.

The conversation ended and Fiona went upstairs to her room, then the phone rang. She and Seth talked for an hour, then she went to bed.

_

* * *

_

_Two months later..._

"Seth, where are we going?" Fiona asked, as Seth drove her somewhere on Tuesday, April 16. He had, as per usual, picked her up from school and he had made her dinner at his house, and now was driving her somewhere she didn't know. She wasn't nervous, she was very curious. She trusted him wholeheartedly, but was still suspicious. Emmy was still at work and Tony was working a case, so Fiona knew neither of her parents would be home for at least a few hours.

"My surprise, remember?" Seth said, smiling.

"Is it at your house?" Fiona asked, confused.

"Nope. Better," Seth said, pulling a hotel key out of his pocket.

"A hotel room? Really, Seth?" Fiona asked, surprised. "How can you afford this?"

"We both have jobs, remember?" Seth reminded her. "And no chance of getting caught. I want it to be romantic. Don't worry, OK?"

Fiona smiled appreciatively. "I'm not. I'm excited," she said.

Seth smiled, and they drove to the hotel. They checked into their room and walked up to it, holding hands. Seth inserted the key to their room and opened the door. When Fiona looked inside, she saw the lights were dimmed and soft music was playing and red, yellow, and pink rose petals were strewn all around the room, on the bed, on the chair and computer desk, and all over the floor.

"Seth... this is amazing," Fiona said. "It's gorgeous. I've never seen anything like it."

"Good," Seth said, smiling. "I'm glad you like it." He placed a Do Not Disturb sign on the door. "There, now _really_ no one can bother us." Fiona smiled and he leaned down and kissed her.

"I love it. It's wonderful," Fiona said, breaking their kiss.

Seth smiled, then deepened the kiss. Seth wrapped his arms around Fiona's waist and carried her over to the bed.

"I've waited so long for this, Fi," Seth whispered against her mouth. "But don't be afraid to say you want to stop."

"I'm ready, Seth," Fiona said. "I don't want to stop. I trust you. I want you. I want to be with you. I want to make love with you."

"Me, too, Fi," Seth said, as they began to kiss more passionately.

Seth's hand trailed down Fiona's shoulder, down her side, down her leg, and he took off her right shoe and sock, then her left. Seth quickly kicked off his shoes and slipped off his socks, never breaking contact with her body. Fiona lifted her arms above her head and he slipped off her shirt. He sat up slightly and pulled his own shirt over his head, adding it to the pile of discarded clothes on the floor. Seth's fingers meticulously traveled from Fiona's shoulders to her back, and he unhooked her bra, pulled it out of the way, and also threw it to the floor. Fiona's hands caressed his firm, chiseled abs and traced the V line of his pelvis, as Seth caressed her hips, then pulled her panties down. In a fluid motion, Fiona moved to help him get the panties off, and the last article of clothing floated to the floor.

"Hang on, I... I have to get something," Seth said, breaking another kiss.

"What?" Fiona asked.

Seth leaned over the bed and got a condom out of his jeans pocket. Fiona had also started the pill a few months ago, as a precaution, since she knew it took a few months to truly begin to work. Though she had still been 17 then, her parents knew she and Seth wanted to start having sex, so she had gone with Emmy and gotten a prescription for birth control pills. Seth put on the condom, then they began to kiss again, before they began to make love. Seth entered Fiona slowly, careful not to hurt her. They took it slow and enjoyed the feeling of being joined together as one flesh.

When they were done, Seth slowly rolled off Fiona and took her into his arms and held her close.

"Thank you, Fi," he said, kissing her tenderly. "This was amazing."

"It was more than amazing," Fiona said. "This has been the best night of my life. The best birthday I've ever had. I'm glad it was with you and no one else. It was perfect."

"I want to stay here with you forever," Seth said.

"Me too," Fiona said, "but we can't. We both have jobs and school and I don't think our parents would appreciate it very much if we got fired and suspended."

"Oh, my God, your dad," Seth blurted out.

Fiona laughed. "I won't tell anyone, if you won't," she said.

"It'll be our dirty little secret," Seth assured her, smiling.

Fiona smiled.

"We'd better get back," Seth said. "It's almost eleven."

"Seriously?" Fiona asked, looking at the clock. "Wow, time flies."

"Yeah, no kidding," Seth said, smiling. "Your dad will kill me if he figures out this is why we were late for curfew on a school night."

Fiona smiled. "He won't kill you, Seth," she said. "He really likes you."

"Well, that's good, because I like him, too. He has the most amazing daughter in the world," Seth said, holding Fiona close as they walked out of the hotel to his car.

Fiona smiled. At the moment, she was the happiest girl in the world.

* * *

When they arrived at the DiNozzo residence, Fiona said, "I don't wanna go to bed. I will never be able to sleep in my bed the same way again."

Seth smiled, still holding her close. "This won't be the last time we do this," he assured her. "Not if future times are just as amazing."

Fiona smiled. "I had a wonderful time," she said. "Next time we wanna do this, just say the word and I'm there." A little quieter, she said, "I love you."

"I love you, too," Seth said, "Happy Birthday."

"Thank you," Fiona said, smiling before she went inside.

"How was your day, baby?" Emmy asked, as Fiona walked into the house with a dreamy look on her face.

"It was magical, Mom," Fiona said happily, smiling.

"Good. Just as long as you two are being careful," Emmy said.

"What? Mom, how did you..." Fiona asked warily.

"Because you have the same look on your face that I did," Emmy said, smirking. She smiled reminiscently. "As long as you two are being careful."

"We are, Mom, trust me," Fiona assured her.

"OK, that's good," Emmy said.

"So you're cool with it?" Fiona asked.

"As long as you're being careful and your grades stay up," Emmy said. "No C's, except in math."

"And econ," Fiona added, grinning.

Emmy chuckled and nodded.

* * *

The rest of senior year flew by, with Fiona and Seth attending senior prom together. Fiona hadn't gone to her junior prom, as she hadn't been very interested.

Graduation came and Fiona and Seth decided to have their graduation open houses together, in one place. This way, Fiona could finally meet Seth's parents, as she still hadn't, and both teenagers could meet both sides of their families.

It was a very busy day. Both Fiona and Seth received a laptop, among other gifts, and it was a bustling day of conversation, seeing people, and a celebration outdoors, in the garage.

Around seven, after things had calmed down and Fiona and Seth had had dinner with Emmy and Tony, Seth and Fiona went upstairs to Fiona's room.

"I got you something," Seth said, as they walked into Fiona's room and shut the door behind themselves.

"Uh oh, I've heard that before," Fiona said, grinning. "What is it?"

Seth pulled a ring box out of his back jeans pocket. Fiona was rendered speechless for a moment.

"Seth..." she whispered.

"Open it," Seth said, smiling.

Fiona opened it, revealing a Sterling Silver Couple's Double Heart diamond ring.

"Seth... this is amazing," she whispered. "How could you afford this?"

"I've been saving up for a while," Seth said, smiling.

"It's overwhelming," Fiona said.

Then Seth said the last words she was ever expecting in the world.

"Marry me, Fiona."

Fiona was shocked. "What?" she asked.

"Marry me, Fi," Seth repeated. "I've known what I wanted for a long time. I want to get married and live somewhere and start a family. I've always known it was you I wanted that to be with."

Fiona's mind was spinning. "I... I don't know what to say," she stammered.

"Say you'll marry me," Seth said, smiling.

Fiona didn't know what to say. She knew she loved Seth; she didn't say that very often, and when she did, she meant it. And she trusted him wholeheartedly. He had been her first time and she wanted him to be her last.

She paused for a moment, then she threw her hesitation to the wind.

"Yes," she said, laughing. She jumped into his arms. "Yes!"

Seth grinned, as her petite body knocked him over with surprising force. Both laughed together, then quickly took off each others' clothes and began to make love.

When they were finished, Seth said, "We have _got _to get our own place."

Fiona laughed. She couldn't agree more.

* * *

_Here is a link to Fiona's ring, in case any of you are curious:_

_http:/_

_www._

_findgift_

_.com_

_/gift-ideas_

_/pid-220217/_

_The Document Manager eliminates one of the two hyphens after the http, in case you didn't notice, so add it in and the link should work. If it doesn't, let me know and I'll try and fix it._

_As always, please review to tell me what you thought! Thanks._


	9. Next Step In Life

_Hey, guys. It's been a really long week for me. I found out on Friday the 13th, I have high-frequency hearing loss... I can still hear conversations, can still hear to sing, etc., for the most part, but it was really upsetting to find out. I haven't told a lot of people and I'm not going to (including my dad and stepmom, though my mom and stepdad knows). On a much brighter note, I'm done with my full-time summer job, YAY! I will really miss one of my coworkers, but we'll hopefully keep in touch during the school year and maybe go out and have a drink, as friends, sometime (Tiff, you know who I mean... lol.) I am REALLY anxious to finish my additional part-time job for the year, especially since I don't anticipate going back there next summer, though I might go back to my full-time city job, training before European Choir Tour and my cousin's wedding, then going overseas for the tour, then come back and work like a dog, like I have this summer, to earn just about as much. Yeah..._

_I probably meant to update this yesterday, but I had a really busy day and completely forgot until today, which has also been a busy workday. Yesterday was really busy: lots of shopping, I got to see Celtic Women in concert (they were amazing! No pictures allowed, though, except the bagpiper, post-concert, came out to the lobby area and played for us, he was amazing), got a facial, had dinner at my favorite restaurant in the entire world, Red Lobster, etc. I've also got some family stuff going on, so yeah, it's been a little nuts, and it's not gonna slow down yet._

_Anyway, my thanks go out to Tiffany331, my **WONDERFUL **beta, for helping me out with writing this chapter. I couldn't have done it without you and the RP. Really. You will see a lot of similarities to HookEmHornTX's wedding chapter in _Ab Initio_, because it was my main inspiration for the idea of this chapter. Had to give her credit, though, especially since she has reviewed for me before. Don't sue me. :) __Happy Reading._

**Chapter 9— Next Step In Life  
**

**

* * *

**

In all his roughly 9,000 days of being a father, this was one particular day Anthony DiNozzo did not want to face. Ever.

Gibbs shook his head as he watched Tony pace across the narthex of the church. It was spring 2025, the day of Fiona's wedding, and her father was clearly nervous.

"DiNozzo."

Tony spun around. "Yeah, Boss?" Then he made a face; though Gibbs had been permanently retired from N.C.I.S. for 11 years now, and Tony was trying to break the "boss" habit, it was practically impossible.

Tension lined his face more than usual, and he looked as though he had barely slept the previous night.

"Are you ready for this?"

"Ready?" Tony asked, a little confused. Gibbs nodded. Then Tony took a deep breath and launched into a rant.

"Ready? Are you kidding? Of course I'm ready. Why wouldn't I be?" Gibbs' eyebrows rose. "I mean, just because I'm pacing and sweating and just about ready to freak out or pass out or something, does not mean that I'm not ready!" Gibbs stared at him, as he sat down on a bench. "Yeah, OK, maybe I'm just a little bit anxious."

"A _little_?" Gibbs raised a skeptical eyebrow at him.

"I mean, this is my little girl we're talking about here," Tony said. "It seems like yesterday, the accident happened, then Emmy told me she was pregnant with her. Then she was born. Then I was rocking her to sleep. Then helping her ride her first two-wheeled bike through the puddles. And now she's getting married? Seriously, Boss, it doesn't feel like this is real. For the past 25 years, I was her Number One. Now, I'm... nothing."

Gibbs waited until he was done ranting, then asked, "That it?"

Tony paused for a second, thinking. "Yes." Then he flinched, as Gibbs head-slapped him. "Thank you, Boss." Gibbs nodded.

"You are not nothing to her now, DiNozzo," he said firmly. "You will always be her old man, her protector, her confidante, her dad. Her being married to Seth will not change that one bit."

"Are you sure?" Tony asked him nervously.

"Ya think, DiNozzo? Who is she gonna go to when she's confused about something or just needs to get away for a while, or when she feels like she can't do it anymore? You."

Tony nodded silently. "I'm just gonna miss her, that's all."

"Of course you are," Gibbs said. "But she's changing street addresses, not solar systems. It's understandable that you want what's best for her. Well, obviously she thinks this is. And I agree; Seth is a great guy."

"Yeah, he is," Tony agreed. Seth had been the one guy in Fiona's life he had ever truly liked and approved of.

At that moment, Abby came bouncing up to Gibbs and Tony. Abby and Ziva were bridesmaids; Fiona's best friend, her college roommate, Charlotte, was her Maid of Honor. Seth's three best friends, Charlie, Trent, and Craig were groomsmen.

"Gibbs," she said automatically. Then she paused awkwardly for a moment, then amended, "Er... Tony. You're needed at Fiona's dressing room, pronto."

"What's wrong? Is she OK?" Tony asked, walking off immediately.

"She's fine. I think," Abby said. "It's just that she's locked herself in and won't come out and won't let us in; Emmy, either. We thought maybe if either of you came to see her, she'd give in."

Though Gibbs had no official part to play in the wedding, everyone joked he was the bridal consultant, as whenever something went wrong, Fiona went to him first and no one else. He had gotten used to being everyone's go-to guy, but particularly Fiona's, for a long time now.

Tony frowned and sighed. "Alright," he said, "I'm coming."

Abby turned and walked with them.

Then Tony hesitated.

"Boss," he said, "maybe you should talk to her first."

"You want me to?" Gibbs asked.

"Yes."

"Alright." Gibbs went up to the door. "Fi, it's Gibbs." He knocked gently on the door. "Talk to me."

After a few moments, Gibbs heard the lock click, then the door opened a crack. He was in.

Gibbs went in and found Fiona sitting on the floor, crying.

"What's up, kiddo?" he asked.

"What do you think?" Fiona asked him.

"I'm thinking you're dead if you wrinkle your dress, after your mom just ironed it for you yesterday."

"At the moment, I don't care."

"What's wrong, kiddo?" Gibbs asked, moving her to a chair and pulling another up beside her and sitting in it.

"I'm afraid I'm breaking my dad's heart."

"Why?"

"Because of the way he acts every time the topic of the wedding, and all that it entails, comes up. He gets this sad look on his face, like he's losing me, and tends to avoid the subject and walk away."

"Well... in reality, kiddo, I think that's a pretty standard reaction. If Kelly was still alive and getting married, if I hadn't killed the groom by this point... I'd be the same way."

Fiona looked up at him. "Really?" Gibbs nodded. "So why am I doing this to him?"

"Because it's the next step in life you want," Gibbs said. "It's very normal. Graduate high school, go to college, find someone you love, graduate college, get married, get started in a career, start a family... I won't lie, he is upset. But it's a good upset. He's sad to see you go, but he's happiest in the world that you will be with Seth. He wouldn't have you be with anyone else."

Fiona nodded. "I wouldn't, either."

"So there's no problem, then."

"Where is he?" Fiona asked.

"Outside, waiting for you to let him in, so you two can talk. Want me to send him in?"

"I can't let him see me before the wedding."

"Sure you can," Gibbs said, smiling. "You aren't marrying _him_. Only Seth can't see you."

Fiona nodded. "Alright, send him in, please."

"OK. Oh and, by the way... you look beautiful, kiddo." Fiona smiled. Gibbs hugged her, then left the room.

Tony slowly entered the room. "Hey, kiddo."

She didn't turn around or look up at him. Her arms remained wrapped around herself and she remained sitting on the floor. "Hey."

"What's up?"

More tears ensued, and Tony, alarmed, sat in the chair where Gibbs had been beside her, and held her close to him. "Fi..."

"I don't wanna upset you."

Tony sighed. "Fi, I'm not... upset."

"You hesitated. You're lying, Dad," Fiona pointed out.

"OK... you caught me. I am upset. But it's a good upset. I'm happy for you and Seth. I'm just sad to see you go. You know, pretty Daddy standard," Tony said. Fiona looked up at him and pressed her head against his chest. "Now, stop crying and go out there and have Abby finish your make-up. I don't want _you _to be upset on your big, beautiful day. You look beautiful. And Seth is ready."

"So you're not angry?"

"Of course not," Tony said, surprised. "You're changing addresses and houses, not solar systems."

"That's pretty much what Gibbs said."

"So we will still see each other. Often."

"Promise?"

"Promise." Tony kissed the top of her head; her hair, today, was not in its usual ponytail, but in an elegant classic French twist, courtesy of Ziva. "I love you, kiddo."

Fiona smiled. "I love you, too." As they stood up, she asked, "Are you gonna cry today?"

Tony blushed and smirked. "Yeah, probably," he admitted. "Rule Number 25: Never be ashamed of tears."

Tony had taught Fiona all Gibbs' rules over her lifetime. "That rule has a number?" she asked.

"No, it actually doesn't, but I thought I'd pick one for today that wasn't taken," Tony said.

Fiona smiled.

"And today, I am very, very proud of you."

"You keep talking like that, Dad, you're gonna make me cry again," she pointed out.

Tony smiled and held her close, as they walked out of the dressing room. Fiona and her mom shared a brief exchange, before Fiona went over to Abby to get her make-up finished.

Before the wedding march was to begin, everyone got into place, including Fiona and Tony, at the back of the church. She found her place beside him and linked her arm through his, resting her elbow in the crook of his arm.

She was shaking with nerves, but her father's presence calmed her slightly.

As the wedding march began, Fiona looked up at her father. "You look so handsome, Dad."

Tony smiled. "Thank you, kiddo. You look so beautiful. Are you ready?"

"Yes."

Fiona walked slowly down the aisle, on her father's arm, when the wedding march began. Her dress was new. Her best friend, Charlotte's little brother, Christopher, was the ring-bearer, and carried the rings on a pillow with an old Aladdin and Abu pillowcase of Fiona's. Fiona had borrowed sunscreen from Abby to protect her skin from burning, while taking photographs outside in the beautiful sunshine. As for blue, all wedding attendants held little bags of blue confetti, instead of rice, to throw at the bride and groom, upon the new couple exiting the church.

Fiona couldn't help herself, and she let a few tears silently escape. Tony pulled her slightly closer to him, a gesture that let her know he knew she was crying and was trying to comfort her and continue down the aisle in the meantime. She held her head high and kept her composure the rest of the way, quickly turning her head and wiping away her tears as she met a smiling Seth at the altar.

The ceremony began and went off without a hitch. Granted, the bride was a little choked up, but she was also beautiful and got through her vows in one piece. Tony managed to give her away without breaking down completely, but it was hard, and he still let a few bittersweet tears fall.

When the ceremony was over and pictures were completed, Tony watched as the new couple walked out of the church together, arm-in-arm. The wedding party moved to the reception hall, being led by the bride and groom's car, shoes attached to the rear, courtesy of Abby.

* * *

Everyone enjoyed champagne and food at the reception. Ziva came over to Tony, noticing he was looking nervous again.

"Tony?"

He looked up at her. "Ziva?"

"Is there something you want to talk about?"

"Not really. I'm just getting anxious for the father/daughter dance."

"Do you not dance?"

"I can, I just don't. I haven't danced since college, except at Emmy's and my wedding. I taught her, though, and she's good."

"So it will be fine."

"It will. I'm just anxious."

"Don't be. You will be fine."

"I know."

One of Tony's favorite songs, Billy Joel's "Just The Way You Are", ended, and Alison Krauss' "When You Say Nothing At All" came on. Tony went over to Fiona and held out his hand.

"May I have this dance?" he asked her, smiling.

Fiona smiled, nodded, and took his hand and he led her out to the dance floor.

"One of my favorite songs," she noted. Tony smiled. "Hey, Dad?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for being the best father ever."

Tony smiled sadly. "It was nothing at all, kiddo."

She smiled and rested her head on his shoulder, enjoying dancing with him to the rest of the song.

"I love you, kiddo."

"I love you, too, Dad. Forever and always."

The song ended and Fiona kissed her father's cheek, then walked back to sit next to Seth.

Tony went over and sat next to Ziva. "Ziva?"

"Yes, Tony?"

"You and McGee still have my six, right?"

"Of course we do, Tony," McGee assured him.

"Why?" Ziva asked suspiciously.

"Because I need someone to make sure I don't get drunk out of my mind tonight."

"You would get drunk after your daughter's wedding?" Ziva asked, surprised.

"Not intentionally. It's just... I'm sad. I don't know what to do, now that I've given her away. My responsibilities have ended, a little."

"Well, Tony, if you wanna hear it, I have an alternative."

"Speak, Probie."

"Well, Fiona will be joining the team soon. You can still protect her on it, if that makes you feel better. She will have your six and you've always got hers."

"Of course."

"So what are you worried about?"

"Whatever has yet to come."

* * *

Later that night, Tony could be found in the oddest of all places. The smell of sawdust filled the air and his nostrils. Mason jar of bourbon in hand, Tony looked up as he heard a familiar voice.

"DiNozzo?"

"Hey, Boss."

"What are you doing here?"

"Thinking."

"About what?"

"About whether or not I'm ever gonna forgive myself for what I did today."

"You mean before, or this now?"

"Before. Don't worry, I won't touch the boat."

"Don't lie to me, DiNozzo."

Tony couldn't help himself; an impish grin crept over his face. "OK, so I _might_ have touched it once. The feel of wood under my hands is oddly comforting. I get why you spend so much time down here now."

"I know the feeling."

_Oh God, _Tony thought, _I'm turning into Gibbs._

"Does Emmy know you're here?"

"Yup. She doesn't know I'm drunk, though. She wouldn't approve."

"Ah. What's up, Tony?"

"Just thinking, Boss."

"That can be a dangerous pastime. You about done?"

Tony looked up at him, a little stung at the words. "I know, Boss. I just couldn't be at home right now."

"And why is that?"

"Cuz Fiona won't be there. It won't be the same without her."

"Maybe not, but change is a part of life."

Tony deliberately, drunkenly changed the topic. Looking around absent-mindedly, he asked, "Boss, how did you ever get your boats out of your house in D.C., when you lived there? I mean, here, you've got an actual huge door and pulley system you built yourself."

"I've said it before, DiNozzo. Break the bottle. Now quit changing the subject."

"Fine. I can see just how well breaking the bottle is working for you. What do you want me to say?"

"Well, for starters, I think you need to just get it all out. You usually don't need any sort of other persuasion when you've had the liquid kind."

"I'm just gonna miss her, Boss. Seth is a great guy, but _no _guy will ever be good enough for my little girl. It's just gonna take some time for the shock to wear off, til I stop freaking out internally about her not walking through my front door every night."

"Yeah. It'll take some time, but it'll get better."

Tony looked up again. "Will you give me a ride home later, Boss? I wanna stay for a while yet, so I don't go home completely trashed. And I get why you spend a lot of time down here. It's kinda comforting."

"Sure," Gibbs said. "And you know you're welcome to crash on the couch, if you want."

"Thanks. But I should get home eventually. Or Emmy will worry," Tony said.

"Yeah, you should probably be with her. This isn't easy for her, either," Gibbs pointed out.

"Yeah," Tony agreed. "I should quit being selfish and get back there." He made to stand up, but staggered drunkenly. "Erm... eventually."

Gibbs nodded, satisfied. "Good," he said, steadying his former senior field agent. "Get your head on straight, and when you're ready, I'll take you home."

"Thanks, Boss."

"Anytime."

With Gibbs' help, Tony made his way slowly up the stairs and over to the living room couch. Tony lay down and Gibbs laid a blanket over the agent's shoulders, and Tony soon fell asleep, thinking about the day's events and the days to come.

_

* * *

_

_Here is the link to Fiona's wedding dress: http:/_

_www._

_alfredangelo_

_.com_

_/Collections_

_/ProductDisplay_

_.aspx?productID_

_=abc39670-32e3-4409-8c35-a1ed553552ee&categoryID_

_=32e5a88c-cbf1-498f-afcf-dbfca138c5d3&pg=1&colorId1=_

_Add in the second hyphen after the http, or else the link won't work. It should. If that link becomes broken or doesn't work, let me know and I'll search for and find an alternative one._

_Oh, and just in case you're wondering..._

_Something old: the Aladdin/Abu pillowcase (I had one when I was growing up, Abu's tail curled into a C, and my name begins with a C, so you can see why I positively adored it)_

_Something borrowed: Sunscreen from Abby_

_Something blue: Blue bags filled with blue confetti, to throw when the bride and groom exit the church, instead of rice_

_Something new: Fiona's dress_

_Tiffany331 asked for me to clarify that in the parent story, so as I didn't, except in a review reply (sorry, it honestly didn't occur to me at all), I figured I'd do it now, in the author note. :)  
_

_**THANK YOU**, Tiffany331, again, for helping me out with this chapter, particularly the ending Tony/Gibbs conversation. The RP was EXTREMELY helpful! Thank you so much! YOU ROCK!_

_I'm anticipating chapter 10 to be the epilogue, unless you guys want to see more to follow it. Let me know in reviews._

_As always, if you read it, please review to tell me what you thought! Thanks._

_Renthead07_


	10. Crisis

_Hey, guys, what's up? Not much up with me. It's been an awful first week of school, the worst I've ever had. I won't go into details why, there are too many. I'm glad for the weekend, despite the fact that I have a TON of homework AND I have to work! :( But I'll live. I'm watching "Reqium" as I update this. One of my favorite episodes. :)_

_Before we begin, I don't own a House, M.D. quote reference that will appear in this chapter. I can't remember the episode name, or I would disclaim it, but I _think _it is/was House's Head. All I remember is House was basically under house arrest, with an annoying in-home care lady, whose cell phone he took to call his team about a bagel test... XD I'm almost positive that was House's Head, so I'm disclaiming it as that. See if you can find it. :)_

_Here is chapter 10. A lot longer than normal.  
_

**Chapter 10**—** Crisis**

* * *

_Five months later..._

How could things have gone to hell so quickly? Tony wondered.

It had been a normal day, but now it was almost two a.m., and both his senior field agent and his daughter were in the hospital.

_One more reason to hate Halloween,_ Tony thought bitterly.

Four hours ago, after Abby had discovered definitive evidence linking one of their suspects to the crime scene, and they had learned he had booked a one-way flight to Canada for that night, the team had hurried to go arrest him, regardless of the evening hour.

As they arrived at the suspect's house, he had been heading out the door, large suitcase in hand. Upon spotting the agents, he threw the luggage at them and hurried back into the house. The team rushed in, guns drawn, and had cleared the house, except for one small room at the back. Gathered around it, Tony quickly kicked in the door and they saw the suspect, Ryan Davis, pointing a gun at them.

"Put it down, Davis. It's 3 to 1. Not good odds," Tony said.

Davis had refused, swearing that he would sooner die than go to jail, before suddenly squeezing off a shot in McGee's direction, sending McGee reeling to the ground with a holler of pain.

It was over after that. Tony had quickly shot and injured the man, preventing him from fleeing, then turned to check on his SFA. Luckily, McGee was wearing his Kevlar, but being shot at such close range would have been painful under any circumstances; and in this instance, the force behind the bullet had actually managed to break his collarbone.

The Senior Field Agent would not have had to stay at the hospital overnight, had they not had to screw it back together in surgery.

Waiting in the waiting room, Tony thought about how Fiona getting in the car accident had come to happen.

The details were still sketchy, but according to Seth, whose word Tony trusted wholeheartedly, Fiona, an N.C.I.S. Special Agent going on a year, had done some shopping on a rare afternoon off, then headed down to Washington Medical Center, where Seth worked as a medical transcriptionist. He guessed she was going to surprise him, but with what, he still didn't know.

And it looked now that he may never know.

Unbeknownst to her, he had gotten off half an hour earlier than usual, and had left the hospital by the time she had gotten there, going home to surprise _her_. It had taken him a little longer to get home, because he had to take a detour, due to an accident a couple blocks from their house. It looked like one car had hit another car and wrapped the second car around a tree.

Seth couldn't see the license plate, so hadn't thought it was Fiona's car, until he had gotten home and was beginning to put together the surprise. A police officer had called his cell phone and told him about the accident occurring. On his way out, he had immediately called Tony.

Tony had been in interrogation, interrogating Ryan Davis, the man who had shot McGee, when Ziva had interrupted it. She knew Tony hated being interrupted in interrogation just as much as Gibbs had. But Tony needed to know.

"Tony," she said, "a moment, please."

Tony gave her an annoyed look, but Ziva beckoned to him, insisting. He let out a sigh, then met Ziva in the hallway.

"What?" he snapped, after the interrogation door shut.

"Fiona has been in a car accident. You needed to know."

Tony's breath caught, his heart wrenched, and his blood ran cold with adrenaline.

"Oh, my God," he said. "Is she OK?"

"The officer wouldn't tell me details. He just said you couldn't be contacted on your cell phone, so he tried your desk phone, and I answered it."

Tony pulled his cell phone out of his pocket, opened it, and saw '1 Missed Call' on the screen. He recognized the number as the police department non-emergency number. He flipped his phone shut, sighed, and nodded. "Thank you for telling me, Ziva."

Ziva nodded. "Go to her. I will take over the interrogation."

Tony smirked at the idea; Ziva had a reputation for her intense interrogations. "Alright," he said. "Thank you."

Ziva nodded again, then Tony left.

* * *

Tony wrung his hands together, over and over, waiting with Emmy and Seth in the waiting room. All they were doing was waiting. Waiting for a doctor to come out and speak to them about Fiona's condition. She had been in surgery for nearly three hours.

Tony had called Gibbs as soon as he had gotten to the hospital, and to Emmy and Seth. He needed his mentor to calm him down, even if it was from four hours' distance away.

"Do you know anything about Fiona yet?" Gibbs asked, over the phone.

"No, they won't tell us a damn thing, Boss," Tony said worriedly. He began pacing around the room.

"Sit down, Tony."

Tony looked around, confused, before sitting down.

"Stop looking around suspiciously, and yes, you _are _completely predictable," Gibbs said. "Be strong for Emmy and call me as soon as you know anything."

"OK. I need a Valium, Boss."

"I know, Tony. Hang in there. She'll be OK."

"God, I hope so. We'll talk soon, Boss."

Tony hung up and turned to look at Emmy, whose face was stained from tears. She leaned into his hug, exhaled deeply, and he held her close, waiting.

* * *

Still in the waiting room, Tony reflected on Fiona's becoming a Special Agent. She had graduated from college and asked her father if she could join the team. He had initially hesitated. She was his little girl. He didn't feel right in allowing herself to put her life on the line for this job, especially on the same force for which he worked.

Tony leaned back in the chair, as a memory came to him. It was an argument they had had, when Fiona had first wanted to become a member of his team.

_"Dad, I want to join your team," Fiona said to Tony one day, when she stopped by N.C.I.S. headquarters a couple weeks after the wedding. She and Seth had finally finished moving into their new house and they both were in the process of finding jobs. Seth had applied at Washington Medical Center and had an interview in a few days.  
_

_Tony looked up from what he had been doing, in shock. "You what?" he asked, certain he had misheard her._

_"I want to join your team," Fiona repeated._

_"No," Tony said. "No. Absolutely not."_

_"Why not?" Fiona asked. "You won't even give me a chance?"_

_"It's not about giving you a chance or not, Fi."_

_"What is it about, then?" Fiona asked, looking between him, McGee, and Ziva, as if waiting for them to back her up._

_Tony looked around as well. "Maybe we should take this somewhere else," he warned._

_"Fine," Fiona said, crossing her arms over her chest._

_They walked toward the elevator, and as they got in, Tony shut it down, Gibbs-style._

_"Fiona," he began, "look. You're my little girl, my only child, and I don't know how I feel about you being in such a dangerous profession."_

_"I knew you'd say something like that. That's why I have the degrees, Dad. I find it all fascinating and thrilling. Scary, of course. I'm not stupid and I'm not joining it for kicks and perks. All you have to do is put me through testing and see if I meet all the requirements," Fiona said. "What made you decide to join the team?"_

_"I joined for the guns and babes," Tony said shortly, not cracking a smile. "Fiona, I know being a federal agent is romanticized, and probably seems like it's all thrills and catching bad guys, but this is serious business, and having the right degrees won't necessarily cut it. Besides, do you know how it would look, having my daughter on my team? I'm not even sure Director Vance would allow it."_

_"I know it's serious business. I'm not joking around. And you know better than to make assumptions before double-checking, Dad. You taught me all Gibbs', Jenny's, and your rules. You can't say Vance would disapprove before even asking him. Why do appearances matter, whether I'm your daughter or not?" Fiona asked._

_"Fiona, whether they should or shouldn't, appearances _do_ matter," Tony told her gently. "Now if you're really serious about being a federal agent, do you really think you want to be on my team? That wouldn't be the slightest bit weird or anything?"_

_Even as he asked it, though, he knew that Fiona was serious. She got a determined streak from her mother and a stubborn one from him, making her doubly bull-headed. And he knew that he wouldn't want any other team watching his daughter's six._

_"Yes, I really want to be on your team," Fiona said seriously, staring her father down._

_Tony sighed. "Alright. Well, we'll have to be careful, to make sure we go through all the correct channels exactly, with unconnected, outside sources judging your entrance tests. We don't want anyone to be accused of any impropriety."_

_"Alright, so I'm in, then?" Fiona asked him eagerly._

_"_If _you pass all the tests with flying colors," Tony warned. "It won't be easy."_

_Fiona grinned and jumped up and down a couple times, squealing eagerly. "Alright!" she exclaimed, pulling her dad into a hug. Tony allowed himself a small smile.  
_

_When she finally let go, Tony reached around and tapped her lightly on the back of the head._

_"No way," Fiona said, flabbergasted. "You wouldn't." Tony raised an eyebrow at her. "You would?" she asked, incredulously.  
_

_"Oh yes, I would. You can't expect special treatment, just because you are my daughter. Wasn't that your point this whole time?" Tony asked firmly._

_"Yes," she said cautiously._

_"Well, then, welcome to the team, Probie." Tony grinned.  
_

_Fiona smiled. Tony flipped the switch back and the lights and power came back on in the elevator. The doors dinged as they re-opened and both father and daughter stepped out, much to the curiosity of McGee and Ziva about what had just happened._

The memory ended and Tony opened his eyes, and was brought back to his harsh reality. After talking with Director Vance and being tested by external, un-baised sources, she had passed all the tests, met all the requirements, and Tony couldn't exactly turn her down. It was more of a hassle than normal, especially since Tony, like Gibbs, didn't like training new agents, but Fiona had learned everything and adapted extremely well. With each case they worked and each suspect they apprehended, she learned new things and became a better asset to the team.

Tony had, in the end, been glad he had chosen her as the new recruit, and no one else.

But right now, he was not sure he would ever see his little girl on the team again.

Finally, after what seemed like forever, a nurse came out and called Fiona's name. Tony, his thoughts disrupted, Emmy, and Seth stood up and went up to her.

"Right this way, please," she said. They followed her down a long white hallway, into a small office, which consisted of a doctor's desk and chair, two other chairs, an exam table, tan carpeting, and white walls covered with posters advertising teen pregnancy, HIV/AIDS, and patients' rights and responsibilities.

All three family members remained standing, especially Emmy, due to her bad back. Ever since her accident, her back was often stiff and painful and took professional massage to relax and loosen up, which only lasted for a few days at the most, before it tightened back up and became painful again.

"The doctor will be here in a few minutes."

"OK. Thank you," Tony said. The nurse nodded, then left the room.

A few minutes later, the doctor came in. "I'm Doctor Ken Holmes," he said, shaking hands with Seth, Tony, and Emmy.

"How's Fiona?" Seth and Tony asked simultaneously. Emmy's throat was so tight with worry, she couldn't speak.

"She's stable," Doctor Holmes said. "She's going to make it. However, she has sustained some life-long injuries. Whiplash caused her to slip a couple disks in her neck. She will be complaining of stiff necks for a while. Physical therapy and medication will help this. With as hard as her car hit the tree, she was very lucky not to have broken her neck, and she is also in a coma and is on a ventilator, because she isn't breathing on her own at this point. She had bleeding in two places in her brain, which surgery fixed. However, until she wakes, we won't know if she has any brain damage and we won't know the extent of her injury."

Emmy sank into a chair, burying her face in her hands. Tony wrapped his arms around her and held her close, comforting her, wishing he could take away all her pain.

"Of course you know, non-medically induced comas are very tricky things. They can be harder to monitor or predict. But we'll be watching her very closely and doing our best," Doctor Holmes said. "She is currently critical, but stable."

"What happened to the drunk driver?" Emmy asked.

"He died at the scene."

"Good," Tony and Seth said firmly.

Emmy glared at them, surprised.

"If he hadn't," Tony said angrily, "I might kill him myself."

Emmy stared at him, surprised, then looked back at the doctor.

At this point, an officer walked in.

"Mr. and Mrs. DiNozzo and Mr. Larson?" he asked.

Seth, Tony, and Emmy nodded.

"I'm Lieutenant Brian Lanaghan. I was the first on the scene."

"What happened?" Emmy asked, clutching Tony's hand.

"She was two blocks away from her home, when a drunk driver ran a stop light and hit her driver's-side door. The impact sent her car up over the curb and wrapped it partially around the tree. She was not belted in, causing all her injuries," the lieutenant explained.

"Was she alive when you got her out?" Tony asked.

"Barely, sir," Lieutenant Lanaghan said. "We had to use the Jaws of Life to take off her passenger side door and pull her out that way, and even then it was tricky."

"Why?"

"She was pinned between the steering wheel, door, and her seat. It all smashed when she was hit. And her heart rate and BP were zero at some point. She had to be brought back twice."

"Oh, my God," Emmy cried, starting to cry.

Tony nodded, holding her close and staying strong for her. "Thank you for telling us," he said.

Tony hated seeing his little girl like this, so frail, so broken, with countless machines hooked up to her, including a tube down her throat, breathing for her, because she currently was not breathing on her own.

"I'm only allowing family to see her right now," Doctor Holmes put in. "So I trust you are all family."

"Yes," Tony said. "We're her parents and her husband."

"Alright," Doctor Holmes said, "just clarifying." Seth, Tony, and Emmy nodded. "If there is any change in her condition, you will be the first to know. Otherwise, I'm afraid there isn't anything more you can do for now but wait and pray. I'll be back in an hour or so to check on her again, unless her condition changes for the worse."

Seth, Tony, and Emmy nodded, then Doctor Holmes left the room.

Tony suddenly realized something. "I should go check on McGee," he said.

"What do you mean? Why?" Emmy asked, confused. He hadn't told her about McGee getting shot earlier that day, so she didn't know.

"We were bringing in a suspect and it went badly. He got shot, but he was wearing a Kevlar, so he's OK. But the bullet broke his collarbone, and it had to be wired together surgically, so he's staying at least overnight," Tony explained.

Emmy nodded. "Sure, go check on him," she said. "I'm sure the rest of the team is wondering how Fi is doing, anyway, so if they're there, you can let them know."

Tony nodded, then kissed Emmy before leaving the room. "I'll be right back," he promised.

Emmy nodded, then Tony left the room.

* * *

Tony knocked before entering McGee's hospital room.

"Hey, McGee, how you feeling?" he asked, going over to sit in a chair next to McGee's bed.

"Like I just got shot in the shoulder," McGee said, wincing. "I heard about Fiona's accident. Abby called me when Ziva told her. Tony, I'm so sorry."

"Yeah, so am I. A sorry excuse for a father, that is," Tony said, suddenly frustrated.

"Tony, you're not a bad father. You're a great father," McGee said, unsure of what else to say to calm his boss down.

"Then how come my daughter is lying in a hospital bed right now, fighting for her life? How did I let this happen?" Tony asked angrily.

"Tony, there was nothing you could have done. Seth left work early to go home and surprise her, and she went to surprise _him_. It was a complete miscommunication, a fluke," McGee said. "There was no way you could have prevented this."

"I could have not let her leave early. None of this would have happened, if I'd done that," Tony said.

"Maybe so, but it happened now and there's nothing more you can do, except let the doctors and nurses do their jobs and stay strong for her and be there for her. I know you will get through this," McGee said. "Stop beating yourself up over this, Tony. It won't make things easier or faster or better."

Tony sighed. "I know. Thanks, McGee."

McGee nodded. "You're welcome."

Tony turned to leave. "You rest up," he said. "I need my senior field agent back."

McGee nodded. "Good luck, Tony."

Tony nodded, then left the room.

* * *

Emmy and Tony held each other anxiously, not taking their eyes off their daughter, watching her first movements, as she slowly came out of the coma. It had been 14 hours since her accident and she was slowly waking up. She would slip in and out of consciousness, as the doctors and nurses monitored her closely and kept Tony, Emmy, and Seth updated on her condition. Doctor Holmes said it could take several days for her to awaken completely, even if she moved slightly now and then.

Three days later, Fiona's condition had not changed. She was still not awake, but moving gingerly. She moved her right arm slightly and squeezed their hands ever so gently with her left hand.

* * *

On day seven, Fiona's condition took a turn for the worst. The pressure in her brain was going up, instead of down. At one point, as Seth, Tony, and Emmy watched nearby, a piercing shriek emitted from the EKG machine monitoring her heart.

Then Doctor Holmes said the very words no one wanted to believe.

"She's in V-Fib! I need a crash cart, STAT!"

As Doctor Holmes began chest compressions, several nurses rushed in to help, two pushing a crash cart. One immediately began to ventilate Fiona using a bag valve mask. A nurse took over chest compressions after she handed Doctor Holmes the defibrillator paddles, on which he squirted gel.

"Charging to 200! Clear!"

The nurse providing Fiona with oxygen got clear and Fiona's body jumped as the pulse went through her body, but there was no change in the irregular rhythm of her heart.

"Charging to 300! Clear!"

Still no change.

It was like Fiona was suddenly giving up hope, giving up on living, on getting better.

It was the last thing Seth, Tony, and Emmy ever wanted to happen.

"I need an amp of Epi," Doctor Holmes said. Another nurse rushed over to the doctor, with a syringe filled with adrenaline in her hand, and injected it into Fiona's I.V., while he continued compressions.

Then, he picked up the paddles again.

"Charging to 360! Clear!"

This time, as the shock went through Fiona's heart, it did what it was supposed to.

"We've got a normal sinus rhythm. She's back," Doctor Holmes breathed, sighing, as the line began to jump more steadily.

Emmy broke down into tears again, sobbing with relief in Tony's arms. Their baby was back.

"BP is one-twenty over sixty and holding. Pulse 43, weak, but it'll do." Doctor Holmes looked back at Seth, Tony, and Emmy. "I hate to be blunt, but as you can tell, it is easy for her to go either way, good or bad, with her brain swelling being how it is. We're doing the best we can. I always have hope. And so should you."

Seth, Tony, and Emmy nodded vaguely, worried about what might happen next.

* * *

The next day, day 8, some changes had occurred, but not for the better. Though Fiona's brain and heart had stabilized, she was not tolerating the tube feedings, therefore losing some valuable nutrients. Her brain was not getting better. Her injuries were far more severe than Tony, Emmy, and Seth had ever imagined.

Doctor Holmes brought Tony, Emmy, and Seth into his office on day 9.

"We need to talk," he said. "We are trying to take Fiona off some of the medications we have her on right now. But whenever we do, her brain swells back up," Doctor Holmes said. He looked at them seriously. "I have to be honest with you. At this moment, we don't know what we're going to do."

Emmy broke down into tears in Tony's arms. Tony held her close and waited until her gut-wrenching sobs lessened, then looked at the doctor, waiting for more.

"I always have hope, Mr. and Mrs. DiNozzo, Mr. Larson," Doctor Holmes said. "However, it is logical to always be prepared for the worst."

Seth, Tony, and Emmy nodded numbly. They needed a miracle, big-time.

* * *

Day 11 brought new challenges for Seth, Tony, and Emmy. Fiona was developing pneumonia from being immobile for so long. The doctors put her on more medications to control and treat it.

Day 12 was the best day for Seth, Tony, and Emmy. With the persuasion of both her parents and her beloved husband, Fiona's eyes eventually fluttered open and she looked at her parents.

"Hey, kiddo," Tony whispered. "Don't try to talk, OK?"

"Mommy's here, sweetie," Emmy whispered, crying as she smoothed what of Fiona's hair escaped the bandages encompassing her head. "Seth, too. We're so glad you're awake."

Fiona smiled wearily around the ventilator, but it came across as more of a grimace.

"Hello, Fiona, I'm Doctor Holmes," Doctor Holmes said, coming forward and beginning to examine Fiona's vitals.

Fiona smiled again, this time for real, and they heard a hoarse noise that was unmistakably a giggle. Doctor Holmes shot Emmy a curious look, as he finished, then stepped back, satisfied. Emmy thought she knew what was going through Fiona's mind.

"_Sherlock Holmes _is currently her favorite movie," Emmy explained.

"Ah," Doctor Holmes said, smiling. "No relation," he added to Fiona. "You were in a bad car accident. You're in a hospital now. Don't try to talk, because you can't talk around the ventilator. Blink once for 'yes', twice for 'no'. Do you understand what I just said?"

Fiona blinked once. _Yes._

"I should tell you what your injuries are," Doctor Holmes said. Fiona blinked once nervously. "Slipped disks in your neck from whiplash, and you had bleeding in two places in your brain, which was remedied with surgery. However, your brain is still our primary concern, as you were in a coma for almost two weeks and we still don't know what damage has been done." Doctor Holmes checked her reflexes, then added, "I need you to try and do some movements for me."

Fiona blinked once. _OK._

"Wiggle your right fingers for me."

Fiona did.

"And now, your left fingers."

Fiona did.

"Wiggle your toes for me."

Fiona did.

"Is your dad in this room?"

Fiona looked around carefully, then blinked once. _Yes._

"Point to him."

Fiona slowly raised her arm and pointed to Tony, who sighed heavily with relief.

"How about your mom, is she here?"

Fiona looked around, blinked once again, then pointed to Emmy. More tears fell from Emmy's eyes as she hugged Tony tightly.

"And Seth?"

Fiona looked around, blinked once, then pointed to Seth. Seth smiled and signed "I love you" to her.

"Very good. That's enough for now. You need to rest," Doctor Holmes said. "Your blood pressure is a little high."

"She's scared. She doesn't like being restrained," Tony said.

"But she isn't, Mr. DiNozzo," Doctor Holmes said.

"Tony," Tony corrected him. "We're informal here. And I know. She might not be able to move herself."

"That is normal for post-comatose patients," Doctor Holmes said, both to Fiona and Tony. "Relax. The movements should return slowly with time. I've left you a pad of paper and a pencil to write questions on, OK?" Fiona blinked once. "I'm going to go check on some other patients. I'll be back in an hour or so."

Fiona blinked again. _OK. _Then, after a short while, surrounded by the comforting presence of her parents and husband, she fell asleep.

* * *

Three days later, Fiona had surgery to place a tracheotomy, instead of a breathing tube. This sucked out her lungs, and she was able to speak by pressing a button on a plug. She also had a feeding tube placed in her stomach.

Fiona slept most of the day. When she was awake for a short period of time, she pointed her finger again at her mother. Tony brought in her IPod and played some of her favorite songs from her playlist. Her heart rate went up; she clearly could hear it and was enjoying it.

* * *

Two days after the surgery, doctors had been trying to get Fiona off the ventilator, but she was not always breathing on her own enough. She did fine while awake, but forgot to breathe when sleeping. She still could not talk yet.

The next day, eighteen days after the accident, was the best day for Seth, Tony, and Emmy. Fiona's EEG results came back and nothing had changed, so she was not getting worse. She was slowly improving. She also no longer needed the ventilator, as she was breathing on her own for the first time in eighteen days, even when sleeping. She was sitting up in bed and giggling as Abby tickled her feet. She flipped Abby off; her attitude was back.

* * *

On day 19, Fiona slept most of the day again. Doctor Holmes said this was perfectly normal, as she was very tired and her brain was "still waking up". When she was awake, she was smiling and restless. When her voice wore out from lack of use, she wrote on a white board that she wanted to go home.

Seth, Tony, and Emmy couldn't wait for that day to come. It had been a very long few weeks.

* * *

A week later, Fiona was been moved to rehab. She was walking, talking, and remembering things every day. She could brush her own teeth and she finally ate some pudding and drank some pop. She was now going to have therapy three hours a day.

Seth, Tony, and Emmy were staying with Fiona all the time now. She was scared to be by herself. They refused to call the car wreck an 'accident', because in their minds, it was not and never would be. Though Fiona was making good progress in rehab every day, working on walking and they could finally hear her voice, they knew she would most likely be suffering for weeks, months, or years after this. Tony would never forgive the drunk driver who hit her. Every day was a lesson for them all.

* * *

On the thirty-third day following the wreck, Gibbs came to D.C. from Stillwater and visited Fiona in rehab. Fiona was re-learning to walk using crutches. When she tried to go without, she was very shaky and often struggled to keep her balance. Seth, Tony, and Emmy were always nearby, never leaving her for a second.

Fiona hobbled most of the way over to Gibbs, then stopped a few feet away to try and take some steps to get to him. Her legs shook badly, still weak from lack of use. She stumbled, but he caught her.

"Hey, kiddo," he said. "How are you feeling?"

"Good," Fiona said. "What are you doing here?"

"Surprising you, of course," Gibbs said, smiling. He produced two boxes, one bigger than the other.

"For me?" Fiona asked, beaming.

Gibbs nodded and she opened the two boxes. The smaller of the two boxes held spaghetti, one of her favorite foods, with her mom's special red sauce on top, and the other, bigger, box held a chocolate cake.

Fiona looked up at Gibbs. "This is great, Gibbs," she said. "Thank you."

Gibbs smiled. "You're welcome. You keep improving, OK? You're so strong. You're doing great."

Fiona smiled back. "Thanks. I will," she said.

"When do you go home?" Gibbs asked.

"23 days," Fiona said. "Found out yesterday."

Gibbs smiled. "That's a long time," he said.

"Yeah, well, maybe it's like jail time and I'll get days taken off for good behavior," Fiona said, grinning.

Gibbs laughed. "Don't count on it," he said. "And you know you would make horrible jail bait."

Fiona laughed. "Oh, don't I know it," she said, smirking. "It's good to see you, Gibbs."

"You too, kiddo," Gibbs said, smiling.

* * *

Finally, three weeks later, Fiona got to go home. She had made incredible progress in her rehabilitation, with, luckily, no setbacks. A welcome-home party was held at her parents' house, with the entire team present. Fiona was glad to go home to her and Seth's house. She was also glad to be able to sleep in her own bed for the first time in two months. She was happier than she had been in a long time.

Gibbs stood up, and everyone fell silent, as he prepared to propose a toast.

"I'll keep this short," he said, a rare smile on his face. "I've known Fiona... forever. Just about as long as her parents, so maybe I should get paid damages." Gibbs grinned, as a laugh went around the room at this remark. Fiona laughed and stuck her tongue out at him. "And I know she is now happier than she's ever been. I'm just glad I'm able to say this at her welcome-home party, not at her funeral. Welcome home, Fiona. I look forward to all the future moments."

Gibbs raised his glass. "To Fiona."

"Fiona," the others echoed, lifting their glasses and drinking.

"And second, I'd like to raise a toast to our late friend, mentor, teacher, and colleague, who left us all too soon. I'm sure he was one of the ones watching over Fiona that day, looking out for her, protecting her." Gibbs raised his glass once more. "To Ducky."

"Ducky," the others echoed, lifting their glasses and drinking the last of their champagne.

* * *

_And alas, it is finished! Well, at least I think so. In my mind, this is a good ending, but I could continue it. What do you guys think? If I were to continue it, with a tri-quel (new word! Ha!) or further chapters, it wouldn't focus on Tony and Emmy, but on Fiona and Seth and their life together. If you guys want, I may write some more about that, or I may not. We'll see. I don't anticipate having any time to write from at least August 20 to November 1. I know, I know, famous last words..._

_Thank you, as always, to Tiffany331, my **WONDERFUL **beta reader, idea bouncer, muse, friend. For RPs and conversations and humor and more. This story is for you. :)_

_And of course, thanks to all the rest of you who reviewed. I love feedback. Thank you!_

_Alright, I'm hanging up now. BOLO for some things posted by me later... maybe. No promises. :)_

_As always, lots of love, and please review!_

_Renthead07_


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